Theme Weekends 2008

March 17th: St. Patrick’s Day—Celebrate the luck of the Irish with a Green Eggs and Ham breakfast in our deli. Then join us later on for Corned Beef sandwiches and perhaps a Green Beer would tickle yourfancy?

March 22nd Easter Weekend—Design your own holiday bag. Hop on into the springtime games. And, what Easter would be complete without an Easter egg hunt?

May 3rd Cinco de Mayo—Hola amigos! Today’s BINGO is only cinco centavos (5 cents). And, don’t miss the surprises inside the piňata! Later, join Estella Medina as she teaches her secret salsa recipe. Later that evening, join us in the Family Lodge for an authentic Mexican meal.

May 10th and 11th Mother’s Day Weekend—It’s all about Mom. Moms, sign up for a relaxing massage from Christie, our resident certified massage therapist, at no charge (space is limited). Kids, customize your very own gift bag for Mom, and then help design special surprises to put inside. On Saturday, Moms can enjoy a free scoop of ice cream at our social and on Sunday morning, mothers receive a complimentary continental breakfast in our deli.

May 23rd -25th Memorial Day Weekend—The official start of the season kicks off Friday night with Karaoke and ends with Ponderosa Resort’s most popular entertainer: DJ Vern on Sunday night! Do not miss Vern’s interactive music and fun. In between, join us for family crafts, Frisbee golf, live music, a barbecue dinner, the Indy 500 and more!

May 31st Tootie Fruitti—The nearby Venezio Vineyard and Winery will be offering an exclusive wine tour and tasting. Kids can check out the latest Veggie Tales movie. Then everyone is invited to fruit juice tie-dye, caramel apple making and a watermelon seed-spitting contest. For the tootie part, we will be making kidney bean rain sticks. (Get it? Beans are the magical fruit.)

June 7th Cosmic Carnival—Ponderosa...The Final Frontier. Join us for an out of this world movie in our Family Lodge. Play flying saucer golf. Design your own alien to take home with you. Then prepare for the universe’s greatest attraction: The Cosmic Carnival. Booths will include: Laser shot, spaceballs, intergalactic shooting range, smear the alien, rings of Saturn toss and more!

June 14th Father’s Day Weekend—Hey pop! This one’s for you. Sign up for complimentary massage from a certified massage therapist. Space is limited. All of you kids can develop a personalized gift specially made for YOUR Dad. How does a free scoop of ice cream at our weekly social sound? Then spend your evening listening to the “feel good” sound of Uncommon Ground. On Sunday morning, fathers receive a continental breakfast in our deli at no charge.

June 21st Summer Solstice—Celebrate Mother Earth and the longest day of the year by participating in traditional Solstice activities. Make a natural sun compass or join us for our plant identification scavenger hunt and seed planting party. Today’s craft will be glow in the dark paint art. And, when the sun finally goes down, finish your day gazing at the stars with your very own constellation chart.

June 28th ‘60s Day—Peace man. Hey, cruise on into the funkadelic sights and sounds of our second annual ‘60s party. Enjoy music from that eclectic decade as you indulge in tie-dye cake and far-out ice cream. Speaking of tie-dye, we’ll be creating our own groovy t-shirts.

July 4th and 5th Independence Day—We’ll celebrate the country’s 231st birthday in style with DJ Vern. Bring the whole family and be ready to dance, sing and listen with Vern on Friday night. Show your national pride by participating in our site-decorating contest. The kids will love our Fourth-of-July activity books and family games. Hungry? We’ll be having an All-American barbecue. Then get ready to rock, Saturday night, with a Ponderosa Resort favorite: Jelly Side Down.

July 12th Wet and Wild—Take aim at the squirt gun range or shimmy on down the slip and slide. You can also cool down with pool games, discounted raft trips on the American River (details are available at the preserve), ice cream social and straw paint art.

July 19th Ponderosa Paradise—Gather at the Family lodge for a shuttle to Coloma, our historic Gold Rush Town. Tour the Marshall State Park visitor’s center and museum. See an historic Sutter’s Mill presentation and a short film about Coloma. Back at the resort, we’ll have gold panning, live local music and the movie RV.

July 26th Thar Be Pirates Here—The “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy, based on the popular Disney ride, will be shown this weekend, mateys. If that’s not enough entertainment, then join us for our buccaneer sing-a-long. Wanna’ look like a swashbuckler? How about a pirate makeover? Then you’ll be ready to claim your gold in the pillage the park treasure hunt. Aarrgghh!

August 2nd Hot August Nights—Find your own oasis and sunbathe under the hot glow of an early August sun. Then cool off at the pool with a game of Marco Polo. Take a ride on the slip and slide and play other water games. Or, come inside for BINGO. Ask us about exclusive discounted rafting trips on the American River. Then when the evening arrives, listen to the “feel good band” Uncommon Ground.

August 9th Salute to the Olympics—Why should Beijing have all the fun? We’ve got Olympic fever too. Play in our Olympic Ring games, or create in our Olympic Ring craft. Wanna’ compete? Try our first annual Ponderosa Resort decathlon. Or, try baseball, tennis, boxing, bowling and golf on Thousand Trails’ first Nintendo Wii system.

August 16 The King Lives—Rumor has it, Elvis himself will be here today. Before he shows up, why not show your knowledge of the King in our Elvis trivia contest. After that, enter your pooch in the “You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog” dog show? Every dog wins if you come decorate your own Frisbee. Then, the moment of truth arrives when Elvis shows up to lead the Ponderosa Resort in karaoke!

August 23rd Western Days/Chili Cook-Off—Yeehaw. Saddle up for a day of country and western fun. We’ll be calf and steer ropin’ and gunny sack racin’. Why we’ll even help you remember the whole shindig with a western photo craft. Then get your tins ready for one of Ponderosa Resort’s favorite events: The annual chili cook-off and barbecue. Whether you’re competing or just participating, I reckon you’ll be leaving with a belly full of hearty fixin’s. And you can bet your bottom dollar there’ll be country music to boot.

August 29th-31st Luau—Our most popular weekend ends our summer season. And do we know how to go out with a bang! We’ll start the weekend with karaoke, Friday night. The next morning thrill to the sights, sounds and smells of our Hawaiian carnival. Activities include: a bounce house, balloon animals, game booths, lei making and face painting. Then build up your appetite for our spectacular pig roast and Hawaiian feast. Saturday night concludes with an unprecedented entertainment extravaganza featuring the dancing of Faces of Polynesia and the classic rock sound of Ponderosa Resort favorites: Jelly Side Down. The summer season comes to an end Sunday night with DJ Vern spinning tunes and showing everybody a good time.