Kennebunkport, Maine ? In a baseball cap labeling him “The Boss,” President Bush greeted his 56th birthday on Saturday with a crack-of-dawn round of golf and a common gripe against aging.

“Feeling a little older, if you know what I mean,” Bush said as he teed off with his father at a golf course near the family’s shingled compound on the Atlantic.

President Bush begins his 56th birthday playing a round of golf with his father, former President Bush, in Kennebunkport, Maine. The birthday boy was sporting a cap Saturday that said El

The 78-year-old former President George Bush, who hit from a tee a bit closer to the hole, said he had no “words of wisdom” for his son, only a warning: “No laughing about the ladies’ tee.”

The president propped his foot on the cart dashboard as he sped across the course in just over two hours. He appeared to be in high spirits on the second day of a three-day holiday weekend with his extended family his parents, first lady Laura Bush, their twin daughters, his brother and assorted nieces, nephews and in-laws.

It was so early in the morning, he said he had not thought of anything he wanted for his birthday. “First of all, I’m glad my mother and wife remembered,” Bush said.

By the 18th hole, he had come up with a more serious answer: “Hanging out with my family, which is a wonderful gift unto itself.”

The president, his father, brother-in-law Bobby Koch and a local golf pro took just two hours and 10 minutes to play 18 holes.

The family planned a birthday party for the president Saturday night.