The Barkers

Every grandpa dreams of being the best grandfather there is and the eldest Barker is no exception. Grandpa Barker had decided to give his grandchildren all the care and attention he can. Especially since he has just read the 'Encyclopedia of Families' and has a lot of knowledge to impart. Lucky for the Barker kids, granddad tires easily.

Liza started a news agency and Kiddo (who was supposed to report on Alex's experiments) failed to bring film his report. No explosions equals no news, and the tiny reporter got distracted and filmed the wrong thing. But could what Kid filmed be even more sensational than any explosion?

Three months! That's how long it took Alex to create a dancing robot and it won't even budge. Suddenly Max playing ball around the house sends the robot into a dancing frenzy. How can Alex thank Max? Maybe by taking over some of his chores.

Rosie continues to never notice the intentions of her love-struck neighbor Tim. Tim can't even find the right moment to invite her to the movies. Max tells him that in order to attract Rosie's attention he will need to be "cool." Cool like a rapper, or cool like Elvis, or cool like a Mexican guy. Tim tries everything to be cool until he realizes that there is nothing cooler than being yourself.

It would be so wonderful to have a little brother! You would have someone to babysit, and play with. That's what Liza thought before Kiddo was born. Grumpily Liza recalls those moments as Kiddo shows her his new drawing hanging up on the wall of his room, which used to be Liza's room before she had to relinquish it.

The Barker brothers are overjoyed when they receive a Virtual Realty helmet. The only problem is that there is one helmet, and two of them. Whilst Alex is busy playing with a virtual ball, Max tells Liza that Alex needs the VR helmet for a space adventure and that shortly aliens will be coming to claim him. Liza will now do whatever it takes to separate Alex from the Helmet!

Alex has had enough! His siblings distract him from his work constantly. In an attempt to put an end to this torment Alex pretends to have a rare and contagious virus. He quarantines himself in a large isolation ball of his own making. Alas, Alex couldn't predict that his relatives, overtaken by sympathy and a desire to cheer him up, would want to be near him now more than ever before.

Liza is very upset! According to her she can't possibly write a gut wrenching story without experiencing what she writes about first hand. But when fiction becomes reality, Liza may have bitten of more than she can chew!

Rosie is panicking- she is not at all prepared for the upcoming ball! Slowly but surely the whole family gets involved in helping her- what should she wear? How should she do her hair? And the most pressing issue of all- how does one dance the Waltz?

Max has not done his homework and it's about to get checked- this is a full-blown catastrophe! He manages to convince his mom that he is sick and has to stay home. Hooray! A full day of relaxation and doing nothing awaits- or so Max thinks; turns out being tended on is even less fun than turning in homework.

When Alex claims that girls can't understand science as well boys Rosie is determined to prove him wrong. Only she wants to prove him wrong with a minimal amount of effort. Rosie is rescued by the sheer power of her own ingenuity.

Liza wants the last leftover piece of cake. The problem is, so does her little brother Kiddo. Liza explains to Kiddo that there is an invisible animal named the clucking Bumblehound, who visits at night, and expects to be rewarded with the last bit of cake. In the end Liza is left not only without cake but also with a thousand questions to answer about the Bumblehound.

Everyone seems to ignore the fact that Liza was left in charge when the Barker parents went out. Alex refuses to go to sleep; he's too busy examining the moon with his telescope. Liza hears a noise outside, goes to check and finds something very strange at work. Somehow there seem to be two Alex's in the house instead of one!

What's more difficult- keeping people's secrets or discovering them? Max and Rosie try their absolute hardest to figure out Liza's secret. They even tell her their own secrets, hoping she will break. But Liza's secret isn't her own, and she would never betray Kiddo!

Who's the better cook, Max or the Barker gals? Max of course! Unfortunately, he's not able to prove this theory and he's about to lose the bet he made. However, the girls don't know that Max has a secret weapon- Kid! Kid is prepared to go and steal the perfect recipe for him. The question soon becomes- who is the best trickster- Rosie and Liza, Max, or innocent little Kiddo?

Max only went down the playground slide once and still he somehow managed to rip his sisters Rosie's favorite bag, which he borrowed from her. Now Max will have to pay the ultimate price. At the last minute however Max manages to shift the blame on a mouse, and Alex is at hand to help provide proof.

The frost on the window reminds Max of the vinyls that Grandpa Barker likes to play on his record player. Max shares this notion with Kiddo but he never would have thought that Kiddo would interpret his metaphors quite so literally. What happens next can't be explained, even by Alex and his scientific reasoning!

Preparing for Christmas is loads of fun- decorating the tree, baking, writing letters to Santa. The only difficulty is deciding what it is you are actually going to ask Santa for. Kiddo has some wild ideas- How about flying shoes? Or a hat that makes you invisible? Kiddo narrows it down to a magical carpet or a magical pen.

When you're playing a game you can be whatever and whoever you want to be. There are no rules in role-play! Whilst Liza and Max test the limits of their imagination by role-playing Alex constantly interrupts them with corrections. Alex firmly believes that each scenario has to be thoroughly analyzed and approached with logic.

You simply can't ski or sled or skate when there's no snow outside. The entire Barker clan is eagerly awaiting first snow and although the news is predicting heavy falls so far there has been nothing- zilch! Alex decides to create his own snow. Meanwhile Kiddo learns the legend of the Snow Dog, which says that in order to receive first snow you must wake the legendary Snow Dog.

Hunting is a risky game. When a hunter encounters a rare creature, the hunt can quickly turn into an obsession, even if the animal in question is a butterfly. Alex and Max will butt heads in the hunt for a particularly rare butterfly, and the chance to become world renown.

Max and Tim have organized a ski race but it's already off to a rocky start. When the starting bell rings Max just falls forward, and doesn't move an inch. Turns out Alex mixed up his concoctions and instead of slathering Max's skis with "slip enhancer" he covered them with nut paste. When it comes to sport Max doesn't take jokes lightly, and he's determined to win despite his circumstances.

Even the fittest athletes can fall victim to colds, but Max is intent on not getting sick this winter. Luckily, his sister Rosie has a genius idea- Max needs to increase his tolerance to the cold outside and then he won't get sick.  Max never backs down from a challenge so he's going to face the cold head on.

All the Barker siblings have earned sports medals this quarter except...Max. This is because Max spent very little time training and too much time playing video games. Tim has agreed to help Max catch up on lost time and now even spring can't stand in the way of Max of becoming the best figure skater ever!