Our Epic Weekend at Hyundai's Epic Playdate

I am so excited to share with you the amazing weekend my family had at the Hyundai Santa Fe Epic Playdate!  When I wrote about the Hyundai Epic Playdate Contest a few weeks ago, I never dreamed that I would be attending with my family!  However, I was recently invited to this VIP, invite-only event, and was able to attend with my husband and two of my children.

And wow, it truly was epic!

Some of my favorite bloggers were also invited... Jordan from Oh Happy Day, Liz from Say Yes to Hoboken, Joy from Oh Joy, Maggie aka Mighty Girl, Heather from Dooce, Rebecca from Girl's Gone Child, Charlie and Andy from How To Be a Dad, and BoingBoing.  So much talent!!

We were treated like royalty from the second we arrived- from the valet parking, to the delicious meals and many snacks we were served, to all of the thought and planning that went into each and every activity.  The event was held at the historic Dos Pueblos Ranch in Goleta, Ca, which is right next to Santa Barbara, and is a 5 minute walk from the beautiful beach.  

After breakfast and the opening inside the barn, we were able to choose which activities we wanted to do.  There were lots of fun booths set up all over the ranch, run by the bloggers that I mentioned above, and we made sure to do every single activity throughout the day!

First we went to the Sand Art station, run by Liz of Say Yes to Hoboken.  She came up with the amazing idea of taping off a large tarp to look like a quilt, and then giving each child their own section to decorate with colorful sand in bottles.  The kids loved getting creative with the bright colors and getting in there and getting their hands dirty.  

My creative husband even got involved, and made his own Hyundai logo design to add to the colorful patchwork of patterns!  

Next we were off to the Poetry booth that Rebecca from Girls Gone Child was in charge of.  She taught us the basics of constructing a poem, and told the kids to write and draw about whatever was important and meaningful to them.  My son was the first to write on the giant group poem board, where everyone wrote a couple words to create one big poem.  My husband got creative with the assignment and drew the new 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe (see top photo).

One of the highlights of the day was constructing and launching our own rockets, made out of just paper and masking tape!  

My son was amazed at how high his rocket flew up into the sky... so high in fact that we lost sight of as it, and it seemed to take forever for it to come back down!  My creative husband even made his own rocket out of the Hyundai Santa Fe brochures that were available.  I think he enjoys playing with paper as much as I do! 

Throughout the day there were a few group activities that everyone participated in.  One of these was preparing our kids for an epic battle by creating warrior and viking armour out of just tin foil and duck tape!  

McGyver would have been proud of our duck tape skills... seriously.  In about 10 short minutes our kids went from ordinary sweet kids to tough warriors ready for battle.  The hilarious Charlie and Andy from How To Be a Dad led the kids in their tin foil armour-making.  They also made sure that each child was given a proper whip cream beard... because everyone knows that it is essential for a real viking to have a beard.  

Here are my little warriors in their full getup in front of the new beautiful 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe.  I love that the longer-wheelbase Santa Fe has third-row seating for six or seven passengers, which is great for a big family like mine!  Every 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe also comes with technology that allows you to talk to your vehicle, and have it instantly respond to your voice commands.  Amazing!

Another epic battle that took place was the paint fight, led by Maggie of Mighty Girl.  Kids were all given squirt guns filled with paint, water balloons filled with paint, and sponges soaked in, yep, you guessed it... paint, and told to go at it!  Oh, and kids and adults were given ponchos, too, thank goodness.  Some of those kids were ruthless with the paint ;)

Before the last group event that took place, we were able to go on a short walk through the ranch down to the beach, and learn more about the history of Dos Pueblos Ranch.  

The land the ranch sits on has been occupied since pre-history, and was home to one of the larger groups of Native Americans in California. In 1542, Juan Cabrillo saw the settlements of Native Americans on both sides of the river canyon off the beach at the ranch, and called it Dos Pueblos, which means two villages in Spanish. 

The land where the ranch sits was given to the local mission by Spain in the 1700's to grow food, and in 1842, the land was given to an Irish immigrant to develop and settle California, who also used it as a cattle ranch.  It later became a place where champion racehorses were were raised, and some of the original barns and a bunkhouse are still standing on the ranch.  Today there are avocados, cherimoyas (a fruit that is similar to honeydew), and macadamia nuts that are grown on the grounds.  

The private beach was a five minute walk from the ranch, and was breathtaking.  There is also a beautiful lush lagoon close to the beach (see the second picture from the top). We were so fortunate to have a private tour of Dos Pueblos Ranch, and to learn more about its' long history.

The last activity for the day was a whole group activity led by Jordan of Oh Happy Day (one of my all-time favorite blogs!).  She showed us how to make giant bubbles using hula hoops and bubble solution.

In no time at all my daughter was making HUGE bubbles that were perfect for popping!

Speaking of popping, there were also balloon artists there all day teaching the kids how to make balloon swords and simple balloon shapes.  Before they left they gave away all their blown up balloons to the eager and excited kids, which was a highlight for my two kiddos.  My daughter can now make a dog out of a balloon in no time after all the practice she had on those balloons!

Too soon, it seemed, it was time to say goodbye to Dos Pueblos Ranch, and all of the new friends we had made at the Hyundai Epic Playdate.  We had an amazing day, and it was great to connect and play together as a family.  Sometimes life gets busy and we as adults don't take the time to get in there and get dirty and play with our kids.  

A big thank you to Hyundai, Federated Media, Clever Girls Collective, and Dos Pueblos Ranch for giving my family the chance to do just that, to forget about work and school and everything else, and to just get in there and get dirty and have fun playing together as a family!!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.