Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society

Tot and big-kid playgrounds plus a gated spray ground with a small water slide and a lifeguard. Lindsay Wildlife Experience and the model railroad share the grounds.

Wildlife hospital and museum with live owls, a porcupine, snakes and turtles, an interactive raptor exhibit and the Hive Alive bees.

The full-service downtown-adjacent Marriott with an outdoor pool and easy walks to Broadway Plaza, a solid base for a Walnut Creek weekend with kids.

The toddler-and-preschool playground of Walnut Creek: small structures close together, shaded benches under three big oaks, and paved loops for trikes and scooters.

All-suite layout with a door between the grown-ups and the kids, free cooked-to-order breakfast, an evening reception, and an indoor pool that works in any weather.

Walnut Creek hotel whose guests get access to the attached Bay Club's pools, tennis and kids' club programming, the closest thing the county has to a resort.