kidsweekend's blog

This week's offering is from Bee staff writer John Holland. His children are 2 and 4.

WHAT: Tenth Street Place and Modesto Centre Plaza

WHERE:  Tenth and K streets, Modesto

WHEN:  Anytime

DETAILS:  In the heart of downtown, this is a mostly car-free place where kids can splash in several fountains and run around amid movie-goers and office workers and street dwellers. Rosa, my 4-year-old, loves the idea of walking freely in the middle of what used to be 10th Street before this block was closed off. Two-year-old Annie has splashed in the Tenth Street Place fountain in summer and winter. She has no patience for the philistines who think it is an ugly piece of modern art. Across K Street, in front of Centre Plaza, are grass and more fountains, plus steps up to what used to be a closed-off area.