The Barclay Ski Vacation

The Barclays' long-awaited ski trip is off to a rocky start - Donna, who dreamed of skiing all summer, suddenly wants nothing to do with snow. But one ski lesson later, she's a changed girl... because her instructor, Robb, is tall, friendly, and very good-looking. When Dad figures out his twelve-year-old has her first crush, he panics, scheming to keep her off the slopes and even trying to bribe her into a day with dear old Dad. Then Donna takes a spill trying to catch Robb's eye - and meets his girlfriend, Katie. Heartbroken, she comes back to the cabin, where George trades his lecture for a great big hug and a promise: whenever her heart gets bruised, her dad will be there. His baby girl is growing up, and he likes it and hates it at the same time.

Found on On Thin Ice Album 07 · 14 episodes

The run See every episode

0093 Rescue from Manatugo Point A mysterious two-word letter from England sends Whit back to his old wartime journals - and the story of a dangerous night mission off the coast of Guadalcanal.

0094 Operation Digout A mysterious English stranger leaves Whit a cryptic message - "Operation Digout" - summoning him to Trickle Lake and stirring memories of a wartime mission he thought long buried.

0095 The Very Best of Friends A well-meaning surprise from her best friend forces Donna to face a hurt she's spent a whole year refusing to feel.

0096 The Reluctant Rival When a violin prodigy from California visits her grandfather Whit for the holidays, an invitation to join Odyssey's children's Christmas orchestra strikes a sour note with a local girl who has waited all year for her moment in the spotlight.

0097 Monty's Christmas A family Christmas at Grandpa Whit's house begins to unravel when a shattered ornament exposes the hurt a boy has been carrying since his parents' divorce.

0098 The Visitors On Christmas morning, the Barclays' holiday is upended when a mysterious young family with a baby turns up sheltering in their backyard shed.

0099 The Barclay Ski Vacation A family ski vacation takes an unexpected turn for George Barclay when his twelve-year-old daughter - who didn't even want to come - suddenly discovers a reason to love the slopes.

0100 Ice Fishing A boy tired of living in his talented little sister's shadow joins an ice fishing trip hoping to finally prove himself by landing the lake's legendary uncatchable fish.

0101 Scattered Seeds When Connie despairs of ever writing stories like Whit's, he walks her back through her chaotic first attempt at directing a play to show her that great stories have been happening to her all along.

0102 The Treasure of Le Monde! When a boarded-up attic room at Whit's End reveals an antique pipe organ hiding a century-old riddle, Robyn and Connie join Whit on the trail of a legendary French nobleman's buried treasure - but greed has a way of trapping the hunters.

0103 Front Page News Desperate to escape gym class forever, a scheming student and his reluctant best friend talk their way onto the school newspaper - only to discover that journalism is harder than running laps.

1 of 2 0104 Lincoln A ride in the Imagination Station drops Jimmy Barclay into 1865 Washington, where a chance meeting with a friendly squirrel hunter pulls him into the final, dangerous weeks of the Civil War.

2 of 2 0105 Lincoln While lost in America's past, a boy from the present finds himself swept from the last days of the Civil War into the company of history's giants - and a stranger whose name he can't quite place.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 4 more roles

4 supporting roles

Traci Needlemeyer Brooke Bellessi Randall the Mailman Phil Lollar Katie Debbie Schneider Robb Jeff Parker

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Jeff Parker Writer Phil Lollar Director Dave Arnold Sound Designer · Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

The Barclay family is finally off on the ski vacation they have been planning, though Donna, who has looked forward to skiing all summer, suddenly wants no part of a cold-weather trip and wishes they were headed somewhere warm, like Cindy Johnson's family. After a long drive full of backseat bickering, the Barclays settle into a chilly mountain cabin, where George books morning ski lessons for the kids over Donna's protests.

One lesson changes everything. Donna comes to lunch glowing: she has had a wonderful time, and she has made plans to spend the afternoon skiing with Traci Needlemeyer, a girl from her school. Watching the two girls across the way, Mary notices how Donna keeps looking at their good-looking ski instructor and tells George their daughter has developed a little crush. George cannot even bring himself to say the word "boy."

Traci teases Donna about it at the lodge, and when the instructor, Robb, joins them, compliments Donna's duck sweater, and asks her to watch his hot dog, Donna is dazed and giggly. That night George frets in bed: Robb looks at least seventeen, and Donna is only twelve. He briefly considers telling Donna the ski school called to say she is too good to need any more lessons, but Mary points out that would be dishonest. Instead he climbs up to the kids' loft and asks Donna to skip her lesson and spend the next day with him, just the two of them, reminding her how he used to tickle her at breakfast until milk came out of her nose. Donna turns him down - she is finally making real progress on her skis - and George trudges back downstairs.

On the slope the next morning, Donna decides to make Robb notice her. She calls out to him and skis his way, picks up too much speed, and lands face-first in a snowbank. Robb pulls her out and helps her up, but then a girl named Katie comes over to check on the crash, confirms her dinner plans with Robb, and is introduced as his girlfriend. Donna suddenly insists she is fine, says she is supposed to spend the day with her dad, and hurries off.

Back at the cabin, George has worked himself into such a panic that he greets Donna by forbidding her ever to set foot outside again - then sees that something is really wrong. Donna admits she got her feelings hurt over the ski instructor and offers to spend the day together after all. George wraps her in a hug and tells her the truth: it will happen again someday, and whenever it does, she can always come back for a big, big hug from her dad. His baby girl is growing up, and he likes it and hates it at the same time. They trade "I love you"s, Donna invites him out for a walk in the snow, and George, no Eskimo, sends her to get the milk instead.