Steve Douglas takes his family to his birthplace of Bedford Springs. He tries to locate his 1940 fiancee Ellen, married and still living in town, but he is disenchanted by the changes in her. Still pretty, she lives with her obnoxious husband and ill-mannered children.

When Robbie and Katie announce that they might hire a baby nurse, Uncle Charley is confident they will ask him. When they don't, he embarks on a marathon of baby sitting so he can learn the ropes by hiring himself out as a professional baby sitter.

Little Dodie goes to the hospital for a tonsillectomy and insists that her new father stay overnight with her. Barbara understands because she knows that Dodie is finally accepting Steve as her real father. Meanwhile, Robbie and Katie go on a trip to Mexico and leave the triplets in care of the Douglases.

Ernie is left in charge for one day when Steve and Barbara are off to Chicago for a golf tournament while Uncle Charley attends a string music festival. Little Dodie and her friend take a shopping excursion into town but don't have enough money for the bus ride home.