Obamas watch dolphin show at Sea Life Park during 12-day vacation in Hawaii

December 27, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

WAIMANALO, Hawaii (AP) — A day after spending a quiet Christmas evening at their vacation retreat, President-elect Barack Obama and his family watched a dolphin show at an aquatic park.

Obama and at least one of his two daughters visited Sea Life Park on Friday. Reporters were not allowed to join Obama inside the park, and aides to the president-elect did not immediately have a roster of who joined Obama for the 90-minute visit.

Visitors to the park said the Obamas attended a dolphin show. Some visitors showed reporters snapshots they took with Obama, who assumes the office of president in less than a month.

Obama, his wife Michelle and their children are on a 12-day trip to Obama’s native Hawaii, a family vacation the president-elect is trying to keep as private as possible.

Obama has largely stayed out of public view while at a rented vacation home near Honolulu. No speeches, no fundraisers, no forced political meetings. Just family and close friends, holed up behind stone and lava walls at the $9 million beachfront home for his last trip before he takes office on Jan. 20.

So far, it has worked. Obama has ventured into public only a few times since arriving here from his home in Chicago last Saturday. He brought with him only four aides and his Secret Service detail. His comments to journalists have included little more than jokes about bar tabs or self-deprecating humor about his golf game.