Igloo: We Have One.

This winter, unlike last, we've received a fair amount of snow. We've gone sledding at some nice big hills in the park... which has pretty much eliminated any desire to sled in our yard, we've built a snowman, and the kids have made snow angels. It's been lots of fun.

Well, I was out shoveling the driveway one day and decided to see if the snow packed well enough to make blocks for an igloo. The snow in the yard wasn't deep or dense enough to make good blocks, but it packed quite well. So, I grabbed the wading pool out of the garage and started filling it with snow and packing it down. I then cut blocks out of the pool and placed them into a very poor circle. This was a mistake - because in the kids minds I was now committed to making an igloo.

You see, Colin LOVES igloos. His love of igloos stems from our visits to the Carnegie Museum. While its pretty well known for its awesome collection of Dinosaurs, they also have a pretty cool exhibit about the polar region. In the polar exhibit they have a life-size replica of an igloo. They also have a wonderful educational film (shown in a little alcove) demonstrating how the Inuit build igloos.

Once I started to build an igloo, Colin had to have one. He explained to me that we had to make the blocks spiral up as they went around (he remembered that from the film). That first day, I managed to escape without having completing it (but not without much wailing and gnashing of teeth). The main problem is that when can just cut the blocks out of snow on the ground, it takes a long time just to get snow blocks ready to use. You've got to shovel snow out of the yard into the pool, pack it down, and then cut blocks out of the pool. To make it even more fun, because I didn't want to ruin any real tools, I was cutting the blocks with a thin piece of wood - not highly effective.

Anyway, after more than a week of having snow on the ground, and a thaw on the way, I decided to go finish the thing. Colin was very happy that we were going to finish it. He always amazes me with the things he remembers. As I was getting near the end of the project, he asks "Why aren't you building this from the inside?" He asked this because in the film at the museum, it talks about how the Inuit build the igloo from the inside (using blocks that they've cut from the snow within the walls of the igloo). I explained that we didn't have enough snow to build it that way. He was satisfied with the answer, but (I believe) dissatisfied with the lack of authenticity.

Finally, after a total of something more than 3 hours (over a few days), we had a finished igloo.

We cut a door into the igloo (from the outside... again, disappointing lack of authenticity), and Colin ventured in. Here's the valiant explorer poking his head out the door.

I didn't go around and fill in all of the gaps with snow, so it's pretty bright inside.

And here's Colin next to the finished product...

How long is it going to last? I don't know. Lea tells me that it's supposed warm up this week, so I'm guessing not long. But, it will be fun while it lasts.