Katie's Visit to the 'Cuse

From Wednesday to Sunday, Chris and I had the pleasure of a visit from my dear friend Katie, who flew out from Michigan to spend a few days with us. She was able to use a ticket she had to cancel last year that my parents gifted her, so it was awesome that we were finally able to have her out here.

The whole week/weekend was a blast. Lots of relaxing and catching up, and lots of not-so-relaxing activities that were tons of fun.

Katie had a goal of becoming a cat whisperer and making our crazy feral cats love her by the end of the trip. While I'm not sure they were enamored (Zoro jumped down the laundry chute to hide) she did manage to get on ok terms with Zoro by Sunday. He even watched her get ready in the morning and meowed at her a lot. In kitty world, that's a big deal.

We also spent way too much time watching the Olympics, but hey, it comes around once every four years, right?

Katie's welcome basket for her stay here at B&B Dolen. haha

We kicked off the mini vacation with a little tour around North Syracuse (to find food) and the some grilling in the evening. Mostly we just caught up and acted like our goofy selves. Then we took Katie to our favorite ice cream place, Big Dip.

On Thursday, we headed out to Green Lakes State Park to relax at the beach ... and eat ice cream, of course.

One of the cool things about Green Lakes is the trail that goes all the way around both lakes. We had fun exploring and freaking Katie out by talking about the Walking Dead. lol

Chris with open arms to catch me if I fell on the rock formation.

Made it. Phew!

The girls (staying on the dry rocks).

Did I say Katie and I were the goofy ones? Hmm, I guess fits right in with us. But really, who wouldn't want to ride this tree like a horse? Look at that curve! It's a perfect seat.

After we got home, Katie and I faced off in an intense game of Just Dance 2 for our Nintendo Wii. It was a heated battle, but guess who ended up with the highest score. Chris!! haha

Here's  a little video Chris took before joining us of Katie and I making complete asses of ourselves to "Walk Like an Egyptian."

On Friday, we headed to the new Destiny USA ... man that sounds lame. We went to the mall. lol But we did take a look at the new section they added on, which was really nice. It'll be really nice once the rest of the stores move in. And I am so looking forward to eating at Melting Pot. Chris is excited about the indoor go-carts we saw listed on the directory.

So here's Katie showing of the spoils of her shopping trip ... ok, ok, some of those bags are mine. haha

After shopping and eating (we may have indulged in more ice cream at Coldstone Creamery) we headed to the zoo. I know! You're probably thinking, wow, what a fun weekend. How could it get better than that, right? Well, I'll tell you how: BREW at the ZOO!

That's right. We got about 18 tickets a piece to sample all the beer and wine we could want, as well as cheese, fruit kabobs, and a variety of other delicious snacks. So fun and it's a great fundraiser for the zoo, so win win.

We even got to pet an elephant!

Katie both loved and was intimidated by Mr. Lion, whose paws were the size of her head. haha

This video is a little hard to make out because Chris took it on his phone, but it's this baby Markhor (sort of like a goat) was doing crazy flips and spins and stuff. I guess he was just happy to be alive and in the world. haha We could have watched him all day, he was so adorable.

On Saturday, we got up and went to the farmer's market, which was awesome and huge. Chris and I went on a shopping spree and bought homemade cards, fresh peach pie, freshly roasted coffee, beef jerkey, peaches, strawberries, cheese spread ... lots of stuff. I can't believe I've never been to it before. It was so great. I love buying local, and you can't beat fresh, homemade goodies!

After the market, Katie and I were feeling creative, so we decided to tackle a little decorating project at The Capers. But I'll post the details of the whole project next, since this one is getting flooded with pictures and videos. :-)