CHICAGO – President Barack Obama is spending the long Memorial Day holiday weekend at home in Chicago, where he will sleep in his own bed for the first time in more than a year.

Obama said before he took office that he hoped to come home about every six weeks. But the demands of the presidency and his daughters' busy schedules have thwarted his intentions.

First lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha, Obama's mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, and family dog Bo accompanied the president. Obama is scheduled to return to Washington on Monday.

Shortly after Air Force One took off from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, Bo wandered to the press cabin in the rear of the plane, followed by his owner — both of them making a brief visit.

Obama recited the old standby about getting a dog in Washington because real friends are hard to find.

Told that Bo was seen at the airport interacting with a bomb-sniffing dog, Obama said: "I didn't want him getting into it with the Secret Service. I've seen them in training.

Bo later visited the cabin by himself.

Obama plans to break from his vacation on Friday when he detours to the Louisiana coast to assess efforts to stop the catastrophic flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.