P.E.I. family spends night in igloo during blizzard

A family from Stratford, P.E.I., spent Monday night in an igloo during blizzard conditions.

"We decided to build an igloo to sleep in with the kids, and decided last night was a good night to give it a try," said Melinda Lewis, who also owns Rent To Camp, a company that rents out camping supplies.

"It's very quiet. It's surprisingly quiet," she said. "It's actually noisier in our house, because you could hear the wind ripping at the siding."

She added that it was also "quite warm."

'The wind is irrelevant'

"The wind is irrelevant once you're inside the igloo," she said. "Inside the igloo you would never know there was a storm going on outside."

Lewis explained that they used an igloo making kit, loaned by a friend to build the snow structure. She said it took about 10 hours to build.

The igloo was 11 feet long and about 5 feet high, which Lewis said gave lots of room for the family of four to sleep.

They slept on thermarests, which gave them insulation from the ground, and used summer sleeping bags.

"The kids just sleep in their pyjamas and a sweater and a toque," said Lewis. "I require a bit more clothing, because I get cold really quick, so I had a couple of socks on and long underwear and stuff, but really it wasn't all that cold."

'It's fun'

The family had flashlights, candles, and a shovel in case the door got blocked with snow.

"We love being outside, and any chance we can get outside — whether it's snowshoeing or hiking or sleeping in an igloo, we jump on it," she said. "It's fun for the kids."

This isn't the first time the family has spent the night in an igloo. Lewis said her husband and two kids spent the night in the snow on Jan. 30 last year for her daughter's 13th birthday.

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