Ridgway Swim Center

The kids' menu has butter pasta, spaghetti with a house-made meatball, and chicken tenders.

Santa Rosa's original play cafe: a real breakfast-and-lunch restaurant with a supervised play area built in, so kids roam while you finish a hot coffee.

Downtown-adjacent full-service Hyatt on Railroad Street: outdoor pool and gardens, walkable to Railroad Square's restaurants, the reliable chain anchor in Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa's pizza legend: kids get a ball of raw pizza dough to play with at the table, then watch their own creation come out of the wood oven.

Downtown Santa Rosa's shady green: a well-covered climbing structure mid-lawn, bocce and picnic tables, steps from the downtown core.

Peanuts headquarters: comic-strip exhibits and hands-on cartooning at the museum, then public skating across the street in the rink Charles Schulz built.