Tracy and Jay Osborne's mother is shipping the unwilling children off to their grandfather's house for Easter vacation while she attends to business in Hong Kong. The children plot a trip to visit their mother and, with the help of Jay's pet skunk, evade their grandfather and airport security to escape in a taxicab with two safe-cracking vandals. The foursome proceeds to stage a kidnapping--although just who kidnapped whom is up for debate. Grandfather refuses to pay the ransom, the police get involved, and hilarity reigns as the desperate group attempts to collect the ransom money.