Mama has everyone working on spring cleaning, or so she thinks; in fact, everyone's slacking off in various ways. The Captain is the only one to get caught and face her wrath, though. To escape, he fakes illness, but the boys catch him at it. Mama calls the doctor; the boys intercept him and impersonate him. They get revealed, but so does the Captain, and Mama puts him to work doing everyone's job.
The ducks and chickens next door eye the Captain's garden covetously through a poorly mended fence. The Captain, armed with a board, is standing guard (but not fixing the fence). He falls asleep, and the poultry attack, stripping the garden methodically.
The whole family is at the beach for an outing, and each is having their own little adventure. The Captain fights the sun with his beach umbrella, in an attempt to nap. Grandpa tries to build a sand castle, but the waves keep wiping it out. Mama, after trying to defend her picnic basket, tries dipping a cautious toe into the big bad ocean, eventually needing to be rescued by the Captain.
The Captain is playing Santa; John and his henchmen stick him up and take over, but John breaks all the toys. They go into town and sing, so badly that people throw things at them to get them to to stop.
A trained seal has escaped from the Jingling Brothers circus; there's a $100,000 reward. Both the Captain and John Silver hear this news, as does the seal. They show up, offering the seal a ride to wherever she wants to go; home to the arctic, as it happens. The Captain wins round one, grabbing the seal while John is engaged in a fight with yet another reward seeker. But John's got a few tricks up his sleeve, primarily the seal suit he dresses up in that fools the seal briefly and the Captain for a bit longer.
The boys buy mama a new hat for Mother's Day, but on the way home, fall in the mud and ruin it. They swap the bad hat with one that a nearby horse is wearing and head home, with the horse in pursuit. Mama loves her new hat, and sets out to show her friends, but encounters the horse, who goes after the hat.
