friends and fun

When we go to Ohio we always have to stop in and see good friends. The Leppla's are always ready for a good fight. The kids all love to go there because they have fun toys and it's all out war when the toys get brought out. Their poor house is never the same once the Brown clan has been there. We always have good fun and good conversation while we are there. Thanks guys for putting up with us a few hours.




Zach and everyone else fights over this dart gun.



Laura Leppla is helping Andrea fight with a thing that shoots balls



Lex is shooting the air poofer (bazooka)



Ben Leppla with andrea, Zach and Jess enjoying a popsicle



Linda Leppla



Martin Leppla and Andrea

John Deere country

If you look at the pictures below you will see that my dad loves John Deere tractors. Although my parents live in town they own property in the country and my dad has a large barn and a small shed type building on it. My dad buys and fixes up old tractors, Mainly John Deere and takes them to tractor shows . He lined up some lawn tractors and some old tractors he's fixed up and wanted pictures of the grandkids on them. Maybe some day we'll have to have a race and see which tractor will go faster.




All the grandkids on John Deere riding lawn tractors



All the grandkids by an old tractor



Goodbye city life, Green Acres here I come



Rod, Meagan & I on an old tractor



This is my dad's barn



This is a little one room school house down the road from my parents barn

More on the vacation....

Well, we have been home for a week and a half, lifes been busy, it's way too hot to go outdoors and my internet for whatever reason is not allowing me to upload pictures. So I came to Rod's office with laptop in tow and plugged into his dsl and so here we go. Maybe we can finish out the vacation pictures. Many people have asked about Rod's foot. It's doing better. He was actually able to get a shoe on Sunday and go to church. But it was pretty tight. The swelling is going down finally after a week plus of pampering it. The doctor says it's not broken and he sees no fractures on the x-rays, so guess we are dealing with a major sprain. He's been on crutches and icing it up and just now able to walk and put some pressure on it. But too much walking makes it swell again and very painful. I have been the chaufer(sp) and he has been the backseat driver. YEAH!
Anyhow, below are pictures of when we finally got into Ohio. We went to Rod's Aunt Jeanie's first and made a few days of it. We enjoyed visiting and just relaxing.





Rod talking with his Aunt Jeanie



Meagan enjoyed stealing the wires to the croquet set and running away.



We bought the kids a cheap croquet set and they had fun hitting the ball around



Meagan thought Aunt Jeanie's sidewalk made of bricks was fun to run down



Aunt Jeanie had this old style pump in her back yard and the kids thought it was really neat.



Rod and the kids and his Aunt Jeanie went rollerblading. They have some hills so it was kinda fun to go down the hills on skates.



There was a play area across from our park site that the kids enjoyed.



At the state park we stayed at they had a treasure hunt the kids participated in. It wasn't anything special, but something different to do.



We went to a state park and camped overnight and the kids enjoyed roasting marshmallows



This is what Meagan thought of vacation. She was so tired she crawled up on the bench of the table in the motorhome and fell asleep and laid her head on some boxes under the table.

We are home!

We made it home safely about 20 min. ago after many miles and 3 weeks on the road. We had alot of fun and saw many friends and family members. Thanks to all the people who fed us many meals and showed us hospitality. We had a great time. But it's always nice to be home . Although traveling in the motorhome is the only way to go for our family. Now comes the fun of unpacking and cleaning it all up. Yippee! Back to the grind! Also, Rod fell off the ladder at my parents house the night before we left and his ankle is quite swollen and very painful. He had to drive all the way home that way. So we are off to see the doctor to see if it's just a major sprain or what. I got the priviledge of pumping all the gas on the way home. Rod says it's probably the most i have pumped all year. I say its his fault he spoils me. Anyhow, thanks dear for driving this big rig home in pain. Love you.

Day 4 in PA

Day # 4 we went to a deer park and petting zoo. The kids loved it. Of course we all love animals so it was a big hit for all of us.




The deer park



Britt & a deer



Zach with a deer. His antlers were soft & fuzzy



Meagan feeding a deer



jess & a deer



Meagan liked feeding the goats



Jess and a calf. Hopefully now that she's seen a cow close up she can tell the difference from a horse.



Britt & the calf.



Britt wasn't ready for all the goats attacking her for food. But I think she liked it anyhow.



Jess & Andrea called this pig Wilbur



We saw some zebras



Meagan enjoyed all the animals, but didn't know about the baby calf



Some of my animals



My whole family in jail, I should have ran while I could and taken a real vacation. HA!



Meagan had to pet a deer too



My pioneer kids



My horse & buggy kids



Jess with a white deer. It was beautiful



I'd say these guys are having a bad hair day



Britt & Jess were determined to take a swim in Roger's pond. I thought it was a little too cool to swim. Guess they didn't mind.



TJ is getting into the pond with a little help



Lucy took a swim with a little help



Roger knows an Amish family, so we got to visit them and see their home. They had some very nice pieces of furniture made by family members. We really enjoyed talking to them and learning about some of their culture. This is a picture outside their home.

More fun in PA.

On Tuesday in PA. we had more fun. We enjoyed driving through all the hills and winding roads. Everything was just 10 minutes away. (Roger that was just for you)That was the standing time according to Roger's watch to get anywhere. HA!Anyways we got to see Amish people driving in their horse and buggies. The kids think they are fascinating people. Roger took us on a boat ride. Meagan screamed the whole time because she hated the life jacket.But Zach and Jessica got to drive the boat. They thought that was cool. We were all happy it wasn't on the road because they sure don't know how to stay in a straight line. After that adventure Roger took us to a place called the Spillway. Roger told us the ducks and geese literally walk on top of all the fish. We just couldn't imagine how that could be true. But to our surprise they really do. We stopped and bought several bags of bread at $2.00 a bag full and headed to feed the fish. The little bread place was unique in itself. We really had fun feeding them. Meagan had a blast. She first threw in a whole piece of bread. But after watching everyone else she figured out pinching off small pieces made the bread last longer. She was so fun to watch.







Jessica trying her hand at driving the boat


Zach driving the boat



we saw alot of amish driving around. We just had to sneak a picture



This was a little shed type thing beside someones house. They sold old bread to use to feed the fish at the spillway. It was self pay in a little slot on the wall. Glad people feel their are trustworthy people out there.



Inside the little bread house



Meagan loved feeding the fish



At the Spillway where all the fish were. I assume they sold snacks and drinks here



So many fish all in one spot