Given a smooth genus 2 curve $C$, it is canonically a two-fold cover of a $\mathbb{P}^1$, branched at six points. Allowing stable curves allows degenerations in two directions: the six points are allowed to collide (in certain ways), and $\mathbb{P}^1$ can "break" into a degenerate conic in $\mathbb{P}^2$ (here a union of two distinct lines). For instance, a smooth genus one curve with two of its points glued together is an example of the former situation, while two genus one curves joined to each other along a point is an example of the latter.

It is possible to construct explicit families (ideally, over high-dimensional bases and without appealing to stable reduction results) of stable genus 2 curves  that include degenerations of both kinds? (I would even be interested in degeneration of smooth curves to the second locus of unions of elliptic curves.)