A major snow storm is about to hit the city and it's the first night of Hanukkah. When Mrs. Goldstein discovers there is no oil of any kind available due to delayed shipments because of the rare storm, her plans to make her traditional Latkes and jelly donuts are in jeopardy. Enter Jennifer, her can-do, charismatic daughter, home for a visit. She leads Nina, Carlos, and Chelsea in a city-wide search to find vegetable oil for Mrs. Goldstein and olive oil for the Rabbi's Menorah.
Nina is excited when she and her family are invited to the Lins for Chinese New Year celebrations -- featuring a Lion Dance. Nina would love to have an outfit just like Skye has on. But the Lion Dance may be jeopardized when Nina, in her excitement, helps herself to red envelopes that, as it turns out, are meant for the performers.
When Nina arrives at the campground she finds everything is very different from her home, and gets a little homesick. But after her family encourages her to try all the wonderful aspects of camping, like hiking, making new discoveries about nature, and cooking over an open fire, Nina soon comes to love living out in the woods.
Carlos and Nico are going away for a while and have asked Nina to watch Max. However, Max has trouble sitting when Nina asks him to and makes a mess in her room - knocking down a chair, spilling glitter on the floor, and even ruining her painting of Star. Nina and Abuelita Yolie then give him a bath, where he seems to enjoy the hose.