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Great Games for a Night of Fun

This week, Willow Hill Blog is focusing on game night! There’s so much good to be said about friends coming over, eating snacks, and sitting around a table playing games in your apartment. Here are a few awesome games that we’re sure you’ll love. Let us know which one is your favorite. Sushi Go Party! “In the super-fast sushi card game Sushi Go! , you are eating at a sushi restaurant and trying to grab the best combination of sushi dishes as they whiz by. Score points for collecting the most sushi rolls or making a full set of sashimi. Dip your favorite nigiri in wasabi to triple its value! And once you’ve eaten it all, finish your meal with all the pudding you’ve got! But be careful which sushi you allow your friends to take; it might be just what they need to beat you!” This is a fun, 20-minute game for 2 to 8 players, ages 8 and up. Telestrations “Each player begins by sketching a TELESTRATIONS word dictated by the roll of a die. The old fashioned sand timer may limit the amount of time they get to execute their sketch, but it certainly doesn’t limit creativity! Time’s up! All players, all at the same time, pass their sketch to the next player, who must guess what's been drawn. Players then simultaneously pass their guess -- which hopefully matches the original word (or does it??) -- to the next player who must try to draw the word they see -- and so on.” This is a quirky hilarious party game for 4 to 8 players, ages 12 and up. Salem “Accuse and defend your fellow townsfolk as you hunt down the witches of Salem. Act fast, before conspiracy turns you against your own.” This is a great party game that will leave everyone guessing who the witches are. Just hope that you don’t get accused yourself! For 4 to 12 players, ages 12 and up. Captain Sonar “Captain Sonar is an innovative real-time game that challenges two teams to take their submarines head-to-head in a thrilling battle. Your ultimate goal is to find and destroy your opponent’s submarine, but this task is far more difficult that it may first appear. Your entire crew must work together to chart a course, charge systems, locate the enemy, and keep your own submarine fully operational. Communication and teamwork can lead you to victory, but if you fail to cooperate, you’ll be sunk to the bottom of the ocean!” This game is for 2 to 8 players, ages 12 and up. Wits & Wagers Deluxe Edition “ Wits & Wagers is a trivia game that lets you bet on anyone’s answer. Do you know the average number of pizza slices eaten by Americans each day? Of course not! That’s the fun. No one knows the answers, but everyone can take a guess. Win by making educated guesses, by playing the odds, or by knowing the interests of your friends. It can be taught in 2 minutes, played in 25 minutes, and accommodates up to 20 people in teams.” We hope that your game night in Puyallup, WA is a blast this month! What games will you be playing? Thanks for reading.

Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Be Using

Sometimes it takes too long to reach for the mouse and click a button on the computer screen. So today, Willow Hill Blog is sharing a few computer tips so that your hands can stay on the keyboard. Keyboard shortcuts are great ways to save time. They make using the computer easier and more efficient. We’ve compiled a few keyboard shortcuts that will save you time. Whether you’re using your laptop in your apartment, or a computer at the library in Puyallup, WA, these shortcuts will help! Please note that we are focusing on keyboard shortcuts for PCs in this week’s post. If you use a Mac, check out these 10 Mac Keyboard Shortcuts . Control + Shift + T While you’re probably familiar with holding down the control and T keys on a keyboard (while using a web browser, this shortcut opens up a new window or tab). Have you ever accidentally closed out of a tab? To reopen your most recently used tab, press and hold the control , shift , and T keys. You can keep using this shortcut to reopen multiple tabs that have been closed. ALT + Left Arrow (or Right Arrow) Instead of clicking the back button in the web browser, why not tap a few keys? Holding down the ALT key, you can navigate back and forwards through previously viewed web pages by tapping the Left and Right Arrow keys. Control + Backspace Continuously pressing the backspace button can get frustrating. To delete full words instead of individual letters, use this shortcut. Windows + Left Arrow (or Right, Up, and Down Arrow Keys) Did you know that you can snap your current window to a certain side of the screen? This keyboard shortcut is extremely useful, especially if you are alternating between multiple windows. It’s pretty straightforward, just press and hold the Windows key (found in the bottom left of the keyboard, or to the right of the ALT key that is to the right of the Space Bar) . Then, press one of the arrows. Pressing the right arrow will snap the screen to the right, left to the left, and up to maximize. Try it out! F3 This function key, found at the top of the keyboard, is an alternative to the popular keyboard shortcut Control + F . You’re probably familiar with this function, meant to be a quick way to find words on a screen; this is especially useful if there are a lot of words on the web browser’s current window. Simply, press F3 (or Control and F ) and then type in a word or phrase that you are searching for. The box that appears will let you know how many times those words are repeated on the page, and it will help you navigate to them smoothly. Those are just a few keyboard shortcuts that we hope you find useful. Let us know what shortcut you use most often when on the computer. Thanks for reading our post!

Time for a Scavenger Hunt

As part of this month’s Willow Hill Blog invitation to stay physically active, we’re sharing some activities that you can do in our apartment community in Puyallup, WA. The amenities we’ll focus on are just a few of the quality options we provide to make you feel at home. This week, we encourage you to go on an exciting scavenger hunt. You probably went on a scavenger hunt when you were younger. If not, no worries. There’s really nothing to putting this activity together. To make things easier, we’re providing a list of things to search for. But instead of just finding things, we’ve made this hunt a little different — each item on the list should be done as an activity (think of it as “finding time” to do the things on the list). See how long it takes you to complete every item. For more fun, invite your neighbors to join in! — Play 21 on the basketball court. — Get a group and play Sharks and Minnows in the swimming pool. — Look up at the sky and find a cloud that looks like a chicken. — Head into your kitchen and make one of these delicious gourmet popsicles . — Host a game night to celebrate the International Day of Friendship on July 30th. — Watch one or more of Rotten Tomatoes’ 75 Best Summer Blockbusters of All Time . — Head on over to Puyallup’s charming main street and grab a bite to eat or visit your favorite shop. — Invite a few friends over and celebrate National Ice Cream Month by hosting an ice cream sculpting competition! After breaking into teams, each team gets a small container of ice cream (or larger, if you’re daring enough). Take the ice cream out of its container and place it something — many people will use cooking trays and roll out parchment paper or aluminum foil to work on. Then, everyone gets spoons and sculpts their ice cream into whatever they choose. Set a time limit so that everyone knows when to stop carving. And don’t take too long! The ice cream’s not going to stay frozen for long. — Try out a few of the yoga poses we shared at the start of this month. — Compete with a friend in a competitive game of foosball in the community foosball room. We hope you have fun finding time for these activities. Which one is your favorite? Thanks for reading. Happy scavenger-hunting in our Willow Hill Apartments community!

Swimming Pool Safety

During this month, Willow Hill Blog invites you to stay physically active. This month we’re sharing some activities you can do in our apartment community in Puyallup, WA. The amenities we’ll focus on in this month’s blog posts are just a few of the quality options we provide to make you feel at home. This week, we’re focusing on swimming. Even if you’re an experienced swimmer, there’s never a better time than now to brush up on your knowledge of CPR and basic swimming first-aid procedures . Know the importance of wearing sunscreen , and make it a habit! If you have or look after any kids who will be swimming with you in the pool, take the time now to teach them the basics of what you’re learning, too! Having this knowledge will help you and the little ones conquer fears and approach the pool with a smart mindset. Of course, there are small ways people can get hurt at the pool. Wet pavement can lead to slips, bruises, and scrapes — if not worse — so practice walking, and not running, with your kids. Teach them to stay away from suction outlets and drains so no hair or clothing gets caught in them. Always swim with a buddy, and know where those you’re swimming with are at all times. If you know the potential for danger, you and your children can easily avoid them. Horsing around may be fun, but there are plenty of ways it can hurt or bother someone else, especially in a crowded pool. Remember that there are other people in the pool, so keep the splashing to a minimum if you’re close to someone and practice having fun without getting into a stranger’s personal space. This not only is polite, but it can help you avoid accidents. Another important part of being mindful also means listening to the lifeguards on duty and taking frequent restroom breaks so we don’t have to stop, clear everyone from the pool, and clean it! Accidents, however much we try to prevent them, sometimes do occur. Helping yourself and anyone else around you feel calm even if an accident happens is important because it will ease the stress and let everyone think clearly and react responsibly. Chaos can often make people prone to even more accidents, so let your kids and yourself know that your preparation will come in handy and help you stay empowered to be safe. This month, we hope you avoid accidents at the swimming pool by making safe decisions. What other ways are you staying active at your apartment community in Puyallup, WA? Thanks for reading!

Tennis Court Games

During this month, Willow Hill Blog invites you to stay physically active as a way to enjoy the summer and simply improve the quality of life . We’re focusing on activities you can do in our apartment community in Puyallup, WA as just a few of the quality options to make you feel at home. This week, we’re focusing on tennis. When’s the last time you made it out to the tennis court? Better Health Channel shared a list of the health benefits of tennis . Included are increased aerobic capacities, lower blood pressure and body fat, increased reaction time, and better metabolism. In addition to these, there are many other benefits that playing tennis has to offer. One benefit is that it’s a great social sport, meaning that you can meet a lot of different people who are interested in the sport. With a tennis court as one of the Willow Hill Apartments amenities, it’s a great place and opportunity for you to meet some of your neighbors. This week, we wanted to share a few games that you can play on the tennis court. Enjoy these two different activities you can play starting today. King of the Court — Three or More Players To begin, choose one player to be the “king” or “queen.” Players take turns playing a single point against them. If another player wins, they become the new “king” or “queen” and play continues. Depending on how many players you have, you can determine who wins by how many points players get in a row. Wipe Out — Four or More Players After being split into two teams, one player from each team plays a regular singles game. With each point that a player wins they gain one more player from their team onto the court. The player who lost the point switches places with one of their team members. Whatever team is the first to get all of their team members on the court first, winning the last point with the final added team member, is declared the winner. This game gets better with more players. Enjoy the many health benefits from playing on the tennis court just outside of your Willow Hill apartment. Let us know if you had fun with these games. Thanks for reading!

Yoga Poses to Improve Your Basketball Game

During this month, Willow Hill Blog invites you to stay physically active. Since we know that physical activity is one way to improve the quality of life , we’re sharing some activities that you can do in our apartment community in Puyallup, WA. The amenities we’ll focus on in this month’s blog posts are just a few of the quality options we provide to make you feel at home. This week, we’re focusing on basketball. Have you been out to our basketball court lately? Shooting hoops is a great activity. The running, dribbling, jumping — it’s all a great source of exercise and a solution to blow off some steam. Plus, it can be played with other people or alone. With the beautiful weather it’s tempting to spend more and more time on the court, but can your body take it? Willow Hill Blog wants to make sure that you’re prepared for being on the basketball court by offering a few suggestions to help reduce injury, loosen the muscles, minimize soreness, increase flexibility, and improve energy. That’s right! We’re talking about yoga poses. Here are a few yoga poses for basketball players. Take note that you don’t need to be a professional player for these exercises to be beneficial — they’ll help anyone on and off the court, even if you’re a very casual player. Plank This is a very basic pose that strengthens the core and stretches out the wrists. Warrior II A few benefits of this pose includes an increase in stamina, therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome, and a strengthening of the chest and lungs. Pigeon This pose helps the body prepare for backbends and works stiff hips “from every angle.” Bridge Pose This helps strengthen your back and develops muscles around your spine. It also helps alleviate stress and rejuvenates tired leg muscles. It’s good for people with asthma, and it helps with high blood pressure. Yoga is beneficial on many levels, and can even help you improve your performance on the basketball court. Enjoy staying fit this month in Puyallup, WA by visiting the basketball court at Willow Hill Apartments. Let us know if you’ve seen any benefits to your basketball game from these yoga poses. Thanks for reading!