Obama spends quality time with his kids

Democratic senator held impromptu Easter service with family, played golf

	Sen. Barack Obama speaks with reporters during a biref impromptu interview at at the Ritz Carlton Hote on Tuesday.
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updated 9:20 a.m. ET March 26, 2008

GREAT BAY, U.S. Virgin Islands - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Tuesday that he held an impromptu Easter service with his family at their beachside hotel but has spent most of his down time playing with his two daughters in the pool.

The Illinois senator took a short break from the campaign to spend a few days with his family at a resort on St. Thomas. Relaxing in the shade of a palm tree Tuesday, he spoke briefly to journalists from The Associated Press and two other news organizations.

"I've got a couple days with my family," he said. "We did a little Easter service here, because we couldn't go to church, and the kids read some Scripture and we had Easter dinner, and I've been mostly playing with them in the pool."

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Obama's daughters are Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6.

Asked about his plans when he resumes campaigning on Wednesday, Obama indicated he would focus on the economy and Iraq.

"Obviously people are concerned about the economy, so you know we're going to spend a lot of time talking about that," Obama said. "And obviously we had a tragic marker with 4,000 now dead in Iraq, so I think we want to continue talking about the plans for dealing with the war and having a responsible and honorable withdrawal."

Playing golf
Obama played golf Monday at Mahogany Run with friends and an administrative assistant, said Nevin Phillips, director of the course.

Phillips said the club kept Obama's reservation secret and arranged his tee time so the closest players were four holes away. Obama later dropped by the pro shop and posed for photographs with some players.

"A lot of people didn't realize somebody big was here until they saw the Secret Service guys," Phillips said.

As for the candidate's golf skills, Phillips said: "He hit a pretty nice shot down the fairway on number one. Most times when I saw him he was hitting pretty decent shots."