Make the Most of Summer with These Outdoor Activities

Summer is in full swing and now is the time to take advantage of outdoor activities! Ten Trails is conveniently located close to outdoor recreation sites and the community has many outdoor amenities as well as activities planned for the summer months.

Attend One of Ten Trails’ Summer Outdoor Movie Nights 

Ten Trails is hosting movie nights in our Civic Park throughout the months of July, August, and September. We will have food trucks parked at our Civic Park from 5 to 8pm on movie nights for a quick and convenient dinner, and the movie will start to play around dusk. Bring your own blankets and low-back chairs to enjoy the show!

See Live Music Outdoors

The Puget Sound area has many outdoor live music venues including summer outdoor concert series in the cities of Kent, Auburn, and Bellevue. Head to nearby Woodinville to Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery for their ticketed summer concert series events featuring nationally-touring performers. In addition, Ten Trails has live music scheduled throughout the summer during our Sunset Markets and at our Hometown Harvest event September 18^th. Follow us on Facebook for updates on all summer events!

Dine Outdoors

Get out of the hot kitchen and enjoy your meals outdoors this summer. Whether dining alfresco at a local restaurant, having a picnic at nearby Lake Sawyer or our Civic Park, or grabbing takeout from one of our food trucks that visit the community, eating outdoors is a simple summer pleasure that should not be missed!

Use our Community Sports Courts

Ten Trails has many outdoor community amenities that are best enjoyed while the sun is shining! Check out our bocce ball courts, basketball court and outdoor ping pong tables this summer. www.TenTrails.com 360.469.4043      

Head to Local Pick-Your-Own Blueberry Farms this Summer

A visit to a local u-pick blueberry farm is a great summertime activity for the entire family! Get outside, learn about plants and farming while bringing home nutritious berries for the whole family to enjoy. There are many farms within easy driving distance to Ten Trails that offer pick-your-own options throughout the summer. Here are a few to consider visiting:

Canter-Berry Farms

Canter-Berry Farms is a small, family-owned farm that has been in operation with one family since 1954. The farm once sold blueberries at Pike Place Market where they were famous with customers for their quality. These days, the family only grows blueberries for the u-pick season. Located just southeast of Auburn in the upper Green River Valley, Canter-Berry Farms is just around the corner from Ten Trails. For updates on when blueberries will be available for picking for the 2021 season, visit the farm’s Facebook page.

Blue Dot Farm

Located a few miles north of Enumclaw on SE 416^th Street, Blue Dot Farm has over 500 plants with sixteen varieties of blueberries that ripen throughout the summer months. Some of these varieties produce the largest blueberries available in the country. For details on planning a visit to the farm this season, check out their website.

The Rusty Plow

The Rusty Plow Farm also offers u-pick blueberries with five main varieties at the farm, each with its own unique flavor and qualities. The Rusty Plow Farm is family-friendly, and great place to bring kids for an afternoon of blueberry-picking. Located in nearby Enumclaw, the farm is just a short drive from Ten Trails. www.TenTrails.com 360.469.4043  

Tips for Creating a Cozy Guest Room

Many families are reuniting this spring after a long period of not seeing one another due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With out-of-town guests possibly visiting soon for the first time in a while, now is a great time to spruce up your guest room for visitors!

Provide Guests with a Comfortable Mattress

The guest room can sometimes end up being the room where we put things that are no longer needed or that are not quite up to par for the main bedrooms of the house. Instead of furnishing the guest room with an old, saggy mattress, consider buying a new mattress for your guest room so guests will sleep comfortably while they visit.

Clear out the Closet

While it is tempting to leave all your off-season clothes stored in the guest room closet, it is not very welcoming for guests to find they have nowhere to hang their clothes during their stay. Clear out space in the closet so guests can utilize it while they are enjoying a visit to your home.

Provide Basic Necessities

Most guests will remember to bring things they need for travel, but it is always nice to have backup toothbrushes and toiletries in case they have forgotten something. Also be sure to equip your guest room with the basics like a bedside lamp for reading, nightlight for the hallway if your guest room does not have an attached bathroom, and extra pillows and linens.

Make Guests Feel Like They are Staying in a Hotel

For a visit your guests will not forgot, consider stocking your guest room with a small one-cup coffee maker so they do not have to leave the room for an early-morning caffeine-fix. You could also provide a small basket of snacks, a plush robe, and slippers for guests to enjoy. www.TenTrails.com 360.469.4043  

Fun Ways to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day This Year 

Finding ways to celebrate the holidays to make them special for kids can be challenging during Covid restrictions, but there are plenty of ways you can make St. Patrick’s Day fun at your new Ten Trails home!

Scavenger Hunt to Find a “Pot of Gold”

Everyone loves a scavenger hunt! Create a series of clues for kids to search in your home and backyard, all leading to a “pot of gold” prize that can be actual money, coins, or chocolate coin candies.

Buy Shamrock Plants 

Shamrocks are very hardy indoor plants and will bloom throughout the year under the right conditions. These make a great starter plant for kids as they are low maintenance and easy to care for. Buy shamrocks at nearby Four Corners Maple Valley or a local nursery for a pretty, holiday-themed plant the whole family can enjoy.

Dress up in Green 

Make sure everyone in the family has something green to wear on St. Patrick’s Day for their in-person, zoom learning, or day at work. Tradition says if you forget to wear something green, you may get pinched by the leprechaun!

Make Traditional Irish Fare 

Traditional Irish recipes like Irish stew, corned beef and cabbage, and Irish soda bread are great staples to serve on St. Patrick’s Day. For a fun, easy treat to make with kids, try making Irish “potatoes” which are not made with any potato at all. These no-bake candies consist of cream cheese, coconut, butter, sugar, and cinnamon and resemble small potatoes when rolled together and chilled. www.TenTrails.com 360.469.4043  

Transform Your Home with 2021 “Colors of the Year” 

One of the simplest and most inexpensive ways to transform your home is to change up the wall colors. With so much time spent indoors over the last year, many of us are looking for a change of scenery. Why not try out some of these new “colors of the year” in your home?

Pantone Selects Two Colors of the Year for 2021 

For 2021, Pantone selected two colors of the year instead of their customary one. Ultimate Grey and Illuminating are meant to complement one another and act as a metaphor for the year, suggesting sunnier days ahead, or the light at the end of the tunnel. Ultimate Gray is warm and neutral while Illuminating is great for a pop of color on an accent wall.

Sherwin Williams Color of the Year

Sherwin Williams selected a darker color as their 2021 Color of the Year. Urbane Bronze is warm and brings earthy tranquility to the interior of your home. It is at once sophisticated but also harkens to the outdoors and would look lovely inside any of our gorgeous Ten Trails homes.

Benjamin Moore Color of the Year 

While travel to remote and tropical beaches may be a distant memory at this point, Benjamin Moore brings the peace and tranquility of the ocean into your home with its 2021 Color of the Year, Aegean Teal. This subtle blend of blue, green and grey works well with the entire Benjamin Moore 2021 Sunbaked Color Trends Palette.  www.TenTrails.com 360.469.4043