Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, center, and his wife Ann, left, have Bailey's Bubble ice cream in Wolfeboro, N.H., Monday, July 2, 2012, as they continue their vacation from the campaign trail.
Charles Dharapak, Associated Press
WOLFEBORO, N.H. — It's a family tradition that spans a decade, as Mitt Romney's clan — all 30 of them — gathers at his New England lakeside compound for a week of home-cooked meals, sporting events and ice cream outings.
Only this summer, things are a little different: The patriarch is the Republican candidate challenging President Barack Obama and there's a Secret Service detail in tow everywhere Romney goes.
Nevertheless, the former Massachusetts governor is sticking to his routine. He attended Sunday church, let loose on Monday with a little jet skiing and on Monday night he was eating ice cream in town before piloting his boat back home to his lakefront estate. He walked barefoot with his grandchildren, posed for family photos, and visited with friends — just as he has done every other summer. For Romney, this week is a welcome opportunity to unwind from the campaign trail while reflecting on the biggest decision he'll make during this campaign: choosing a running mate.
"It's just so nice to have everybody together," his wife, Ann, said after church on Sunday. "We never get to see them all anymore."
Her husband has been spending most of his time traveling the country raising money and campaigning against Obama. His wife and sons occasionally join him, but they keep separate campaign schedules of their own. This weeklong vacation will likely be the last real break Romney gets before the GOP convention in late August — it's where he will accept his party's nomination — kicks off the frenzied sprint to Election Day.
So he seems to be making the most of it.
Romney spent Monday morning lounging on the beach at the compound a few miles outside of Wolfeboro, N.H., as his grandchildren played in the sand. Then, he and his wife climbed on a jet ski on Lake Winnipesaukee. Ann drove one of the family Sea Doos while Romney sat behind her wearing a life preserver over a T-shirt, shrugging his shoulders and grinning at the reporters who trailed him in a pontoon boat. His Secret Service detail kept watch from a gray boat with enormous outboard engines.
In the evening, Romney and his clan took their two boats into town for some ice cream at Bailey's Bubble, an ice cream shop that's operated since at least the 1930s. Local residents snapped photos as several of the grandchildren posed in neon t-shirts from the shop, which has been operating for decades. His usually coifed hair windblown, a tanned, relaxed Romney then crossed Main Street back to his waiting boats.
