A memoir by two children of the Gilbreth clan recounting the lives of their parents, Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, discussing their careers as industrial engineers, work with scientific management, and the adventures they encountered raising a family with twelve children.

Tom and his wife Kate bring their clan together for a memorable summer getaway. Their dream vacation turns into an outrageous competition with the overachieving, overzealous family of Tom's longtime rival.

Tom and Kate Baker have made many sacrifices in their professional lives in order to raise their 12 children. When Tom is offered a job as a Division I college football coach, he moves the entire pack to a suburb in Chicago. This move shakes up the entire family, but when Kate's memoirs get published, she takes off on a book tour. The lack of parental guidance creates problems for all the Baker kids and chaos ensues.