'19 Kids and Counting' Fam -- Emergency Pit Stop
Traveling across the country with 19 kids SUCKS -- especially when the bus springs an oil leak ... and that's exactly what happened to the fam on TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" last week.
The Duggar family -- all 21 members -- were en route from their home in Tontitown, AR to NYC to appear on the "Today" show ... when daddy Jim Bob noticed oil leaking from their massive tour bus.
Jim Bob wanted to fix the problem ASAP -- so he drove towards the closest bus repair shop ... which happened to be in the small town of Loudonville, Ohio ... population 2,982.
We're told Jim Bob wanted to make sure the family was comfortable during the stop -- so he rented out a couple of rooms at a nearby hotel so they could beat the heat ... and then treated the kids to a gigantic pizza lunch.
4 hours later ... the bus was back in action -- and the family completed their trip to The Big Apple without any other complications.
See also
Duggar Family Delivers Relief to Tornado Disaster
The family from the TLC reality show "19 Kids & Counting" sprang into action just hours after that deadly tornado ripped through Missouri -- packing up supplies and driving through the night to join the rescue effort ... TMZ has learned.
Josh Duggar -- the eldest Duggar child -- tells TMZ the fam spent Sunday night and all day Monday delivering supplies and clearing massive piles of debris to search for survivors in Joplin, MO.
Josh says he and 5 siblings -- John, Jana, Jill, Jessa, Joseph and Dad, Jim Bob -- decided to load up a 3 car caravan late Sunday night when they heard about the disaster in Joplin ... just one hour from their home in Arkansas.
Four of the Duggars are volunteer firefighters ... and Josh says rescue officials immediately put the family's considerable manpower to work -- assigning them to search around the devastated town for any activity -- and hand out supplies at command posts.
Josh tells us the survivors he met were most interested in recovering memories ... saying, "People in Joplin aren't looking for stuff, they're looking for their lives."
See also
Duggar Baby #19 Hospitalized for Tummy Trouble
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's 19th baby -- 5-month-old Josie Brooklyn -- had to be rushed back to the hospital less than a week after she was released ... this according to the baby factory herself.
TMZ has obtained a clip from "19 Kids & Counting" -- in which Michelle Duggar explains how baby Josie had a condition with her tiny little belly that they believed required medical attention ... so they took the child back to the hospital in Little Rock, AR.
Josie's arrival home airs this Sunday (Mother's Day) on TLC ... and the tiny child's return to the hospital airs Tuesday May 11.
