This is one crazy fun theme park that is all about hands on. I must say that from a Mom perspective, one of my favorite aspects is the design of the park. Nearby many of the rides that my four-year old could go on (but my just toddeling toddler could not) were lego type statues and artwork that the younger one was thrilled with playing with, pounding on, or crawling through. Plus there were a ton of features...

20264 Broadway,  Hwy 12,  Sonoma www.traintown.com 707-938-3912 Hard to beat an old fashioned train ride, and for that Traintown is the place to go. The train here even stops at a miniature town that you can explore where you’ll find a “petting zoo”. You can feed the animals a handful of food for a quarter, but you are limited in petting whomever gets close to the gate.  In addition to...

1 Jelly Bean Lane in Fairfield, CA. http://www.jellybelly.com/visit_jelly_belly/california_factory_index.aspx Free 40-minute walking tours run daily from 9:00am – 4:00pm. and depart every fifteen minutes. Weekdays are definitely less crowded than weekends, but there is a large café and waiting area which have plenty of distractions for kids. Also on weekends the factory is closed, so the tour includes...

This hands-on imagination -centered play area packs a lot for its space. It is designed for kids ages 0-7yrs. There are lots of  nooks with their own theme:  a farm area with a pretend horse, barn, tractor, and tons of fruits, veggies and buckets; a face-painting area; arts and crafts area; water-play area; infant/toddler play area; a grocery store,  and more.  There is a section designated for snacks if...

1235 10th Street, Berkeley, CA 94710 (510) 526-9888   www.studiogrow.com Berkeley is the home of one of my favorite kid stops, particularly if you have kids of different ages. The first great find is Studio Grow. This is an indoor facility that has multiple rooms with endless imagination toys and fun. In one room are tables of wooden figures (on one a farm theme, on another a house theme, etc.) and a dress...