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Today was another dentist appointment in San Francisco for Z, though thankfully this one was only an hour long. This time we saw an official hygienist (as opposed to a student) and she felt much more optimistic about the future of Z's mouth. He had been using disclosing tablets to help with his hygiene and apparently they had worked great. I need to pick up some for myself I think. The hygienist (whom may have been a dentist actually, I'm a little confused about the program) did say that one of Z's bottom teeth is growing in crooked and will definitely continue to do so but we'll cross that bridge later. I expected that Z would need orthodontia when he was born with a cleft palette. Though I had hoped to have socked away a little more (or anything at all) for his teeth by now.

After the appointment we walked around the area a little, though at $6 an hour for the parking garage I was feeling motivated to move on. I had thought we would go walk around Golden Gate Park but it had completely slipped my mind that there was a big music festival going on there that day. I couldn't think of anything else to do that didn't involve the nightmare of trying to find a parking spot in the city so we ended up at Ocean Beach. It wasn't actually the destination I was looking for; I was actually looking to walk around the windmills and take photos of the kids but Miguel wasn't up for it so I parked nearby and while Miguel and Az napped Z and I sat on the wall at Ocean Beach and talked. Eventually Az woke up and we migrated down to the beach proper. Miguel opted to stay on the wall and read because he didn't want to get sandy. And because he's a party pooper.

After the beach we decided to go to Sausalito where it would be warmer. While driving there I spontaneously decided to stop at Clement Street to get dim sum at the same place my family has frequented for at least all of my life. The street is full of dim sum shops so I'm not sure why we only patronize this one, but if it's the one my grandmother liked then that is good enough for me. I always feel awkward ordering things at the shop though, the big white woman who orders in Mandarin with a horrible accent. Some of the time I think I might be using nicknames for the food that my family made up, but the woman easily understood me and I walked away with two full pink boxes.

Once we had our dim sum and full bellies we were no longer gung ho about Sausalito. I drove into the town just to look but it appeared that my favorite funky tchotchke shop had been turned into a smarmy wine bar (there may be some bias in that statement.) While searching for a way out of town and a bathroom for Miguel we wound up at Fort Baker. I've been wondering where the Discovery Museum is, it turns out it's there at Fort Baker. It looked like a really cute day trip destination for Az. The sign said it was for kids ages 1-8 so I might have to smuggle Z in, but I definitely plan on coming back soon.

There actually weren't any public restrooms at Fort Baker so I was forced to stop at my very favorite shopping center in Corte Madera. And, you know, while I was there I checked out the shopping center across the freeway as well. Az is always excitedly asking to go shopping, but once we're there she always wants to be doing something else. Soon enough she'll learn to just ask for a new toy or dress and skip the shopping trip altogether.