First family and friends hit the beach at Bellows

After several days of rainy weather, Sunday provided just enough sunshine for President Barack Obama and family to strike the most visible presence of their Christmas holiday in Hawaii.

The day started at about 11:40 a.m. with the first family joining unidentified friends for an outing at the beach at Bellows Air Force Station in Waimanalo.

Heading back to their vacation rental in Kailua at midafternoon, Obama and family stopped at Island Snow for shave ice.

Obama, dressed comfortably in shorts, a long-sleeve T-shirt, slippers and White Sox baseball cap, passed on the shop’s rainbow-themed “Snowbama” shave ice offering (with lemon, lime, cherry and passion-guava syrups) in favor of a custom melon, cherry and lime mix.

First lady Michelle Obama apparently passed on the shave ice altogether, prompting New York Times White House correspondent Gardiner Harris to report that “she rarely seems to enjoy publicly eating frozen garishly colored sugar water with little of the mouth appeal that cream brings.”

According to a pool report, the president shook hands with a crowd of about 40 people who had lined the walkway outside the shop.

Later in the evening, the president and first lady dined at Hoku’s restaurant at the Kahala Hotel and Resort.