KAILUA — President-elect Barack Obama returned for his third — and last — O'ahu visit of 2008 yesterday, and in the process transformed a quiet Kailua neighborhood into perhaps the most secure street in all of Hawai'i.

Residents of Kailuana Place lined their block with beach chairs and waved to Obama's black Cadillac limousine as it — and Obama's motorcade of Secret Service agents, about 30 Honolulu police motorcycle officers, patrol cars and a bus full of White House media — pulled up to the beach-side estate of three homes where Obama and his family are expected to stay through the holidays.

Kailuana Place, on the Aikahi end of Kailua Bay near Marine Corps Base Hawai'i, suddenly turned into an impromptu block party for the arrival of a native son who will be sworn in as America's 44th president on Jan. 20.

David and Linda Oifer even set out a bowl of chips and dip as neighbors sat in the Oifers' beach chairs to watch all of the law enforcement activity and the strangers who continually drove up and down their street asking a simple question: "Obama?"

"Look at all the lookee-loos," Ember Shinn said from across the street.

Ember and her husband, Alan, hope to see the Obamas on the beach or in their neighborhood in the next few days and were happy he and his family will get to enjoy a Hawai'i Christmas.

"We want him to have a good, restful vacation because he has a big job ahead of him in Washington, D.C.," Alan Shinn said.

Obama's chartered United Airlines 767-300I jet touched down at Honolulu International Airport at 3:06 p.m. yesterday after a flight from Chicago.

He left the plane wearing khaki pants, a black polo shirt, black jacket and ball cap of his favorite team — the Chicago White Sox. Obama walked off the jet with his youngest daughter, Sasha, who was wearing a large peace symbol on her T-shirt.

They were followed by Michelle Obama and oldest daughter Malia.

The White House press pool had already exited the rear of the jet to capture Obama's arrival but he offered a single wave to the local media sequestered several hundred yards away.

Obama's arrival also was watched by Secret Service snipers in black tactical gear. His motorcade included an ambulance and specially equipped Honolulu Police Department sport utility vehicle, which then zipped across O'ahu via H-3 Freeway to the Windward side.

In Kailua, Obama's limousine entered an impromptu security gate at the end of Kailuana Place at 3:58 p.m. and the family remained inside the compound for the rest of the night.

The Associated Press reported that the home was originally built in 1934 for Harold K.L. Castle, the landowner who developed much of Kailua after World War II.

KAYAKING INVITATION

Neighbors along Kailuana Place said they had been tracking Obama's arrival on The Advertiser's Web site and eagerly awaited the return of the soon-to-be first family, which will include the youngest White House residents since Amy Carter.

The Oifers and their friends even caught a glimpse of Sasha pressing her face against the limousine's window. On the other side of Kailuana Place, the Shinns got a wave from Obama himself, who was sitting on the passenger side.

The Oifers know people in the Democratic Party of Hawai'i and Linda Oifer said they have extended an invitation to the family to kayak with them in the Kawainui Canal, which runs behind their house.

"We even have kayaks for them," David Oifer said.

Obama brought his family to Kailua in August, after clinching the Democratic Party nomination. Their August beach-side vacation home sits just a half-mile away on the Lanikai side of Kailua Bay.

In his book, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," Obama wrote vividly about a childhood trip to Kailua with his maternal grandfather, Stanley Dunham, a struggling furniture salesman.

It was a trip that introduced Obama to Hawai'i's state fish and its mouthful of a name.

"And I still remember how, one early morning, hours before the sun rose, a Portuguese man to whom my grandfather had given a good deal on a sofa set took us out to spearfish off Kailua Bay," Obama wrote. "A gas lantern hung from the cabin on the small fishing boat as I watched the men dive into inky-black waters, the beams of their flashlights glowing beneath the surface until they emerged with a large fish, iridescent and flopping at the end of one pole. Gramps told me its Hawaiian name, humu-humu-nuku-nuku-apuaa, which we repeated to each other the entire way home."

During the August Kailua trip, Obama and his family delighted officials of Hawai'i's struggling tourism industry by enjoying shave ice in Kailua and taking in typical touristy sights such as the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, picturesque Hanauma Bay and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, where Obama's grandfather — an Army sergeant during World War II — is inurned.

Photographs of Obama body surfing at Sandy Beach also were transmitted around the planet.

In October, Obama returned without his family for what turned out to be his last visit with his maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who died of cancer just two days before Obama's landslide presidential victory in November.

SERVICE FOR 'TOOT'

There are no public appearances scheduled during this trip.

But the family does plan a private service for Madelyn Dunham, whom Obama called "Toot" after the Hawaiian word for grandparent, tutu.

In a statement yesterday, Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, a teacher at La Pietra Hawai'i-School For Girls, said:

"How wonderful that he and the family are able to spend Christmas in Hawai'i. In recent weeks, I have had an opportunity to mourn our grandmother's passing, however, Barack has not. Next week, we will have a small family memorial for our Tutu so that Barack can grieve and emotionally process the great loss. I also hope that Barack has an opportunity to wash off his stress in salt water and re-energize for the long road ahead.

"Thank you to the people of Hawai'i for all the courtesy and aloha you have shown our family."

Soetoro-Ng began her statement by saying, "I certainly don't envy Barack. We have a lot of problems to solve in this nation, but I know that Barack has great reserves of strength. I think he has already done so much that is truly transformative and meaningful. He has picked a great team of bright and dedicated individuals, and his election has reminded everyday people that they are powerful and that they have all the tools they need to organize around matters of importance."

Obama did not return to a sunny vacation yesterday.

Dark clouds greeted the motorcade on the Windward side, and last week's brutal storm left the 'Aikahi end of Kailua Beach littered with debris — until volunteers and work crews cleaned up the mess Friday for Obama's arrival.

"We wish they did it every week," neighbor Mike Bredenbeck said. "It looks absolutely pristine."