Rare photos show Obama girls on their first visit to the White House
For nearly all American children, shimmying around the White House in your tights or roaming its historic, hidden rooms will always remain a fantasy.
But a handful of kids really have made the presidential residence their playground.
A series of rare 2008 photos, posted by NBC's TODAY show, capture the Obama daughters sliding down a wooden ramp, peering inside the Lincoln Bedroom and sprawling across big red chairs in the White House movie theater.
Sasha and Malia Obama were then 7 and 10 years old, respectively, and toured the White House with the twin daughters of former President George W. Bush.
Jenna Bush Hager recently shared the images of the Nov. 18, 2008, visit with TODAY. She and her twin, Barbara Bush, also recently penned a heartfelt letter to President Barack Obama's daughters.
The Bush sisters recalled taking time off their jobs in New York and Baltimore to play tour guide in Washington on that chilly day eight years ago.
"We saw both light and wariness in your eyes as you gazed at your new home," Jenna and Barbara wrote in the letter, published by Time.
The Obama girls "are about to join another rarified club, one of former First Children," the Bush twins said.
Sasha and Malia won't have to downgrade too much after Jan. 20, their father's final day in office.
The Obama family is reportedly moving into an 8,200-square-foot mansion in Washington, D.C.'s Kalorama neighborhood.
Topics Barack Obama
Maria Gallucci was a Science Reporter at Mashable. She was previously the energy and environment reporter at International Business Times; features editor of Makeshift magazine; clean economy reporter for InsideClimate News; and a correspondent in Mexico City until 2011. Maria holds degrees in journalism and Spanish from Ohio University's Honors Tutorial College.
