The Rainforest Cafe

We had a great time for Sophie's Birthday at the Rainforest Cafe. I gotta tell you, I'm in the restaurant business so I know what I'm talking about...it takes a special kind of person to work at a restaurant like that! Wow, lots of kids, lots of noise, activity. Loads of fun to eat there, a great experience. But to work there....yikes.

Sophie was very proud to wear her birthday ribbon and told everyone she was the birthday girl. She absolutely loved the Frog photographed here. While he (?) stopped by our table for this photo, that wasn't quite enough for her. She followed him around every time she saw him. We were seated next to the elephants which scared the crap out of her until I told her that the loud noises they were making was elephant language for Happy Birthday Sophie! At that point, she thought they were pretty cool. The Gorillas though, there was no convincing of anything, they just scared the crap out of her.

So, another birthday gone by. Hard to believe she's 3. Two weeks until Savannah's birthday.

See you in the funny pages,

Mat

Sophie's Birthday

Thursday April 26, 2007 Sophie is turning 3! It's hard to believe. When Savannah was this age, Lea was delivering Sophie. I hope that Lea isn't getting any wild ideas at this stage of our lives. Especially since my operation...yikes!

We are heading to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner (www.rainforestcafe.com) tomorrow night. Lea spent the afternoon making and decorating a great Princess Ariel Cake. Check this thing out, it's awesome. Right now Sophie's favorite princess is Ariel, though if we put the right DVD in, her favorite princess can quickly switch to Jasmine. Of course she will be spoiled rotten. I will not promise to upload any pics tomorrow, but I will do my best. So many new photo's in my computer right now. I really need to get busy on this blog.

Be sure to call and wish Sophie a Happy Birthday tomorrow!

I haven't forgotten

No excuse, just been a bit lazy lately.....a new blog post is on the way I am sure. I can tell you about breaking my lens at the Tulip festival, our trip to the Zoo, my big news at the zoo, moving up through the ranks at Fotolia, my wedding anniversary (April Fools Day...yes, I do know I'm behind!), sticking one of our frogs on Savannah's head for a photo op. I'm sure there are around 100 other things I've forgotten but I will do my best to catch up soon.

See you then!

Mat

A Visitor

My niece Ella has been driven up to see us by her Grandma (aka...my Mom) to play with her cousins Savannah and Sophie. She keeps calling me Silly Uncle Mat. I guess she's a pretty good judge of character. Here are some fun shots from the evening.

Check it out

A bride from last year who can be seen featured on my web page sent me a link to this web page where a photo I shot of her is prominently displayed. Check it out...

http://www.totalhair.net/

Sophie's Stage Debut

Last week I was asked to photograph Jeff Corwin at a private event to raise funds for the Zoo. The Zoo was nice enough to allow me to bring my family along. Savannah had asked a couple of questions that Jeff answered, but as the show went on, Sophie started to get a bit antsy. For a little while she was running back and forth sitting next to Lea near the back, then sitting next to Savannah near the stage. After a little bit of that, she decided that she didn't want to sit with the other kids any longer so she went ahead and climbed up on the stage and sat next to Jeff as he continued with the show. Lucky for her, he had already put away all of the animals. In the photo shown, Savannah was whispering to her to get down and Sophie was making some funny faces at her. Lea was quite mortified, I was on the other side of the stage and couldn't get to her so I did what any proud Dad would do in the same situation...I shot some pics :)

Quite a climb

Yesterday Cory Parris (www.coryparris.com) and I went to the Columbia Tower in Downtown Seattle to photograph a spectacular event. Nearly 1,500 Firefighters from as far away as New Zealand and as close as Everett were there to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It was an awesome event. Wearing 50 pounds of Fire Combat Gear including an oxygen tank, mask, huge pants and a coat they raced up to the 73rd floor of this mammoth building as fast as they could. On the 40th floor was an Oxygen Tank changing station. The first round of firefighters opted to skip the tank change and charged ahead to get the best possible time. Many climbed two stairs at a time and most that skipped the station were completely out of oxygen by the time they reached the finish. The alarm on their tanks were screaming. They swiped their arms over the card reader to indicate they had finished and collapsed into the arms of the waiting EMT's. The only word that comes to mind is INTENSE! Some were vomiting, some were delirious, others looked like they could have turned around and ran back down the stairs. All in all it made me feel as though I am in sad shape. I have two short flights of stairs in my house and it isn't uncommon for me to be winded going from my computer to the refrigerator. Some say that exercise would help with that, but I think it's a myth. The pics of Seattle and Qwest Field and Safeco field were shot from the 73rd floor of the building. What a view!

My Wife the Eskimo

Yesterday we woke up to about 8 inches of snow on the ground. Driving home from downtown Seattle the night before it was snowing pretty steady but I had no idea how much was going to fall all said and done. The first day of March turned into the biggest snow day in our area this year! The roads were super slick so of course there was no school. I was at work, Lea was at home with the girls so what else was there to do but build an igloo?

At around noon or so she sent me a photo on my phone of a wall of snow she had built. I called her to ask what she was doing and she told me she was building an igloo. Uh, OK I thought. Fun way to pass a little time I suppose. I was busy at the restaurant and didn't check in much with her. 6 hours later I got another picture on my phone with the completed project! With just a 30 minute break in the day my wife spent 6 hours packing snow into a tupperware bowl and built a friggin igloo! Apparently she ran out of snow in the front yard and started going into the backyard with a wheelbarrow to load up that snow. Once during the day I spoke with her on the phone. Before she said hello I heard..."Hey! Don't play in our snow!" Then she explained that the neighbor children were making snowballs using snow that had fallen on our grass. At that point I became genuinely frightened. It was clear she was on a serious mission and no way a 6 year old punk kid was going to stop her from completing it :)

All said and done, this thing is cool! I am seriously impressed as it's pretty dang big and really well built. Check it out!

Cute Little Kitty

Born December 12, 2006 this cute little Tiger Cub is getting ready to be on display at the Woodland Park Zoo. Early this morning I was allowed in for a sneak peak at her. She doesn't have a name yet, but the adult Tiger is her Dad Rakata.

New Toys!

Oh Man am I excited! After saving for a couple of months worth of stock photography sales I am finally buying a lens I have been after for a very long time. The Canon 70-200 2.8 IS. It is a sweet lens that most who own it claim is their favorite. I should have that by the end of next week. On top of that, Canon has announced the release of their new camera the 1D Mark III. 10 Frames per second, ISO 6400, dual sensors, a 3 inch screen, the list of bells and whistles goes on and on. It isn't cheap though so I still have a little bit of work to do with Lea, but I think she has seen in my eyes that this isn't a Vintage PEZ dispenser that I feel I can't live without...though it has been a while since I've bought vintage PEZ. This is a seriously nice camera and it will be available in the Spring...I cannot wait! Please send donations via Paypal to Pezheadmat@comcast.net . Just kidding about the donations....sort of ;)

See you in the funny pages!

Mat

Photographer's Challenge

Hi Everyone,

This past Sunday afternoon I hosted a competition with 20 photographers from around the Pacific Northwest. We met at the Pike Place Market and for 90 minutes walked around the city shooting what we saw. We were limited to using just one camera with a 50mm fixed lens. I am blown away by the impressive variety and quality of the photo's submitted. Check them out on my web page by clicking on the Client Proofing Gallery and entering the password: DWF

www.mathaywardphoto.com

Leave a comment with which image was your favorite would ya? The image number isn't necessarily the large number under the photo. It is the number on the bottom left corner of the photo. I'm still waiting for some photographers to submit their pics so I may be adding more.

Have a great day!

Mat

The faces of Sophie

Boy do we have our hands full...in a good way of course :) Sophie has a lot of energy and has quite the personality as captured in these photographs taken about 3 seconds apart.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love was in the air at the Zoo this week in honor of the holiday. I thought I would post a few pics for grins.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

The Lake House

Our family has had a house on Pattison Lake near Olympia, WA for around 60 years or so. My Dad has been living there for a while now and on more than one occasion he has tried to talk me into letting him sell it. I refuse to let him off the hook as a house like that you simply cannot replace no matter what the price. It's the history that has the true value in my opinion. Beyond that, the fishing is great there!

The truth of the matter is that the house has been poorly taken care of for quite a while and has been in desperate need of a remodel. Every time I visit I am overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that needs to be done. I'm so proud to announce that my Dad has taken the initiative to hire a contractor to get everything done once and for all. The plans sound great and I am very excited to see the end result and more importantly I am excited for my Dad to have a home with modern ammenities in it so he will be happy there.

In addition to the work in the house, my brother who has aspirations to start a landscaping business has been working hard on the 3/4 acres of land including building my Dad a putting green to help satiate his addiction to Golf. If anyone is thinking of building a putting green at your house, let me know and I'll send my brother over.

Anyway, I've attached a few pics of the work in progress. I'll be sure to post the end result as well.

Dad's 60th Birthday is coming up May 23. Maybe we'll have to throw him a party at his own house. Think I should ask him first?

See you in the funny pages,

Mat

A Message from Tootsie DippinHoney

My Uncle Farcus DippinDunkin sent this along to break up the routine of my day. Everyone can use a little humor in their lives every now and then. Give this a try and see if if puts a smile on your face. Be sure to post your name in the comments category so we can all laugh at you...err, I mean laugh with you :)




Here is your dose of humor...

A. Follow the instructions to find your new name.





The following is excerpted from a children's book, Captain Underpants
And the Perilous Plot Professor Poopypants, by Dave
Pilkey, in which the evil Professor forces everyone to assume new names...

So:

1. Use the third letter of your first name to
determine your New first
name:

a = snickle

b = doombah

c = goober

d = cheesey

e = crusty

f = greasy

g = dumbo

h = farcus

i = dorky

j = doofus

k = funky

l = boobie

m = sleezy

n = sloopy

o = fluffy

p = stinky

q = slimy

r = dorfus

s = snooty

t = tootsie

u = dipsy

v = sneezy

w = liver

x = skippy

y = dinky

z = zippy



2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the first half of your new last name:


a = dippin

b = feather

c = batty

d = burger

e = chicken

f = barffy

g = lizard

h = waffle

i = farkle

j = monkey

k = flippin

l = fricken

m = bubble

n = rhino

o = potty

p = hams ter

q = buckle

r = gizzard

s = lickin

t = snickle

u = chuckle

v = pickle

w = hubble

x = dingle

y = gorilla

z = girdle







3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:



a = butt

b = boob

c = face

d = nose

e = hump

f = breath

g = pants

h = shorts

i = lips

j = honker

k = head

l = tush

m = chunks

n = dunkin

o = brains

p = biscuits

q = toes

r = doodle

s = fanny

t = sniffer

u = sprinkles

v = frack

w = squirt

x = humperdinck

y = hiney

z = juice

A good day

There are a lot of things I could write about and I have some other photo's to post. Yesterday, we had some friends over for the Superbowl. It was nice to see the Colt's win and even nicer to see the Bears lose. OK, I'm a little bitter it wasn't the Seahawks representing the NFC again, I can admit my motivation to root for the Colt's. All in all it was a great time with great friends and great food. You can see some pics Cory took on his blog by visiting www.coryparris.com and clicking the blog link.

I've been working on wedding photo's for many days in a row. Today I woke up to a very foggy day. After a couple of hours it became apparent the fog wasn't going to lift. I have been meaning to drive up to Deception Bridge for quite a while now and a foggy day seemed like just the right occassion for a road trip. Lea was volunteering at Kindergarten with Savannah today so Sophie and I loaded the car with crackers, water and gas and headed North. It really is a pretty bridge. I'd like to go again and shoot it at sunrise or sunset some day. There is a little parking area just past it so we pulled over to explore. We found a hiking trail down to a small beach under the bridge. Let me say that it was an easy hike down...going back up was a different story. Carrying two cameras, 3 lenses and a wiggling two year old up hill is some serious exercise let me tell ya. Well worth it though.

Instead of driving back I decided to keep heading into Whidbey Island to take the Ferry back home. We drove past a familiar sign and had to pull in. Poppys Place is a road named after my Grandma Poppy. The house my Grandparents owned for many years is at the bottom of the hill. They have cleared out the trees so there is a beautiful view of the water. The orchard is gone now and more houses are there. It's amazing how much smaller it looks but it sure brought back a lot of great memories.

Tomorrow after work I head to Portland, OR. My good friend Chris Bothwell has generously offered to put me up in his spare room the night before my beating...er, I mean meeting for work. If anyone is looking for a house in the Portland area, my friend Chris is the best realtor in the area so be sure to look him up.

I'll post when I get back...see you in the funny pages!

Mat

Wasco Wedding

Another shot from the Wasco Wedding...

Wasco

The Wasco Wedding is almost done. Here's a random shot for fun. Yep, just one. Such a nice day today...lot's of sun. It seems as though Spring has begun.

Yep, I'm losin it :)

Better out than in!

I'm glad the bubbles were coming out of this end if you know what I mean :)

The Giggles

I had posted earlier about the Wasco's getting the giggles during their ceremony. Here is a shot :)