June 25, 2025
We started the day with a brief home school session before we had to get out the door to Lenny’s big dentist appointment! We walked to his appointment and arrived right on time at 10AM. However, when we got to the office for Dr.Haddad, no one was there. When we called the office line, a woman who spoke exclusively French picked up. We tried to use Google translate on our phones but were unsuccessful. We waited around in the hallway for a bit and thankfully the doctor arrived at 20 past the hour.
The appointment was just a quick 5 minute check up to tell us that he would need his tooth removed– which we already knew. Unfortunately the only available appointment was for 6:30pm on Friday which conflicts with our Louvre tickets but we’ll figure that out. We’re extremely keen to get Len’s tooth taken care of before it gets infected or continues to get worse.
We had anticipated heading back to the apartment to chill and recover from Len’s dental procedure but were instead left with a fully open day. We stopped at a nearby bakery for pastries and a big sandwich to share and tried to look up activities on our phones but were in a dead zone.
As everyone started to get hot and restless we began walking towards the Seine to get better reception and see about a boat cruise. En route, we passed a little market where we picked up some dried fruit and made a mistake by not asking for the price. The seller happily filled up a bag with our selections and on weighing the bag told us it would be 50 EUR. We did not want to be spending this much on dried fruit but rationalized that it would be a snack for 4-5 days so it wasn’t as bad as the sticker shock made it seem. But still, never again. It irked Kayleen and I for the next few hours.
We let the boys play briefly at a small church playground before they both complained of needing a bathroom immediately. We then headed towards Jardin des Plantes which had a few options for us to explore and hopefully a bathroom on the way.
Ollie asked me nonstop questions on the walk about Star Wars. First it was simple things; order of the movies, order the movies actually were made in, etc…. Then it turned into wanting the full cliff notes movie by movie. It distracted him from his bathroom needs for our walk but by the 4th movie I needed a break.
Once we arrived at the park it was quite hot and everyone was a little weary but we were here so felt we had to see something. We got a quick look at what seemed to be mini kangaroos hopping around. Then tried to gather ourselves at a small park in the shade while the kids played, but as soon as we sat the bathroom emergency returned. Of course Ollie had to go and Lenny was fine but 2 minutes after Lenny was in desperate need too. We followed the way Kayleen and Ollie had gone and eventually found them in line. Fortunately it was on the way to where we wanted to end up.
After a hot stinky toilet with both boys that almost sent Kayleen over the edge, we settled on the Galerie de Paleontologie et d’Anatomie being our main stop in the park. Similar to NYC’s Natural History Museum but at a smaller scale and without air conditioning. It had a lot of very interesting displays that we could all enjoy even though only small parts where in English. It got hotter as we went up each level and by the the third floor overlook the weary hot feeling was in full effect.
There was a bathroom stop and then a promised walk through the give shop. The boys both were pulled in by a fossil digging kit. Ollie was all for a woolly mammoth and Lenny a diplodocus dino. They both had some EUR and wanted to spend it here so we agreed, Lenny went into the red hoping the little tooth mouse would bail him out on Friday night…
The boys were promised an ice cream break after the museum. They have learned at the first feeling that it might be a hot day to suggest ice cream might be a midday requirement to keep cool. Today we gave them the choice between a little stand in the park or the golden arches of McDonald’s for ice cream. The arches won out, after so much gelato over the last month, both boys landed on a Kit Kat McFlurry.
We took an Uber home to avoid the heat and Lenny passed out shortly before we arrived home. I carried him in and laid him down in his room. As soon as his head hit the pillow he popped up and said “What is Ollie doing?” I told him he was also resting and Lenny accepted the answer and proceeded to take a three hour nap. Kayleen and I also took shorter naps of our own as Ollie enjoyed his alone time, I don’t think he has napped once this whole trip.
My mom came over and we set her up with the boys in the little courtyard of our building to do the fossil kits. The boys were delighted to use the little hammer, pick, and brush. Bri joined in when her and Amanda returned for their daily adventure. The fossils were recovered and skeletons assembled successfully. Though they were not meant for battling, which the boys of course did, and Ollie’s eventually broke. He said it was cheap and should be thrown out which I was happy to hear as one less thing to pack!
For dinner we went around the corner to a little Greek place with one table called Esti that did take away. We bought most of the food they had left, which was awkward as two people walked in behind us and half jokingly asked us to not buy everything. It was very good and we all ate inside our apartment and watched Inside Out 2. A big storm came through during the movie with very loud thunder, pouring rain, and strong wind. Everyone was happy to be eating at home. Grandma put the boys to bed which they now very much prefer as she will spend much more time on the process than Kayleen or I will.
