US elections 2012: candidate's family set for 'Romney Olympics' The games are just one part of the week-long retreat that Mr Romney takes with his family each year. The grandchildren perform a talent show on a wooden stage that Mr Romney erected in the garden and the entire family poses for a group photograph wearing coordinated outfits. Each adult contributes to the running of the 13-acre lake house by choosing a task from the "chore wheel" and in the evenings they gather for long discussions about each son's next career move. And while all five of Mr Romney's boys claim to look forward to the annual holiday, none pretend that they have any choice but to attend. Tagg Romney, the eldest son, described how he tried to back out one year, saying he was unable to get time off from his job at the Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball team. "My dad said, 'No, you will make it,'" Tagg told the Washington Post. I had to beg forgiveness from my bosses at the Dodgers. Mr Romney has been coming to the house in Wolfeboro for more than a decade but this year his week-long presence in New Hampshire may also be to his electoral advantage. He and Mr Obama are level in the polls in the Granite State, whose four electoral votes could prove decisive in a close November election. However, the grandeur of his vacation home - which includes a stables and a boat house as well as tennis and volleyball courts - may also serve as an unwelcome reminder of the former private equity boss's estimated $250 million (£160 million) fortune. Mr Romney's media aides are expected to advise him against repeating his favoured trick of showing up at the small town's grocery store on his own private boat.