The Obama family traditionally spends Christmas in the senator's native Hawai'i. So when his children learned of a different destination this year, there was trouble.

"When I told my 9-year-old that we would be in Iowa, she cried," Michelle Obama confessed.

The new holiday headquarters, like those of many political families, will be in Des Moines in preparation for the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.

Michelle Obama explained:

"I have a plan for this. Has Barack thought about it? No. The truth of Hawai'i is that it's more family and friends than anything. And everybody who was there will be in Iowa. ... The goal is that the kids will be (stationary). We've got friends, family who will be there. They're going to have a whole set of activities that are kid-focused.

"Our view is that, this isn't their life, and if they have a choice between sitting in a hold room at a speech, or going ice skating, they'd rather go ice skating. ... We've been scouting this stuff out forever. We'll have a gaggle of kids. ... We'll be dispatched out and come back in the evenings. There may be some nights during that week where we will have overnights. ... They will have their family and friends around them, with a Christmas tree in a hotel room. We will have had Christmas, and it will be fun, fun, fun."

Make a difference. Donate to The Advertiser Christmas Fund.