You may not expect to find an igloo in the backyard of someone who grew up in a tropical country, but in the case of Erika Tenorio, you would be surprised.
Tenorio came to Canada from the Philippines in 2019, and moved to Williams Lake in March of 2024.
The 33-year-old mother of two spent two weeks freezing water in cake pans with her kids to make blocks to build a colourful igloo outside their basement suite.
Once they had enough blocks, she and Tori and Mateo, six and four, stacked the blocks together to create the coolest backyard fort around.
But an igloo is only one of a number of ambitious and fun outdoor projects the single mom has done with her children, thanks to the online Facebook community 1,000 Hours Outside. The 1,000 Hours Outside project is based on the idea that time spent outside helps children reclaim their childhood and reconnect families. It promotes outdoor time and unstructured play.
"The goal of the group inspires me," said Tenorio.
The igloo has also led to other outdoor activities since they put it up, with the family enjoying a board game night in the igloo, eating their dinner in the shelter, and bundling up for a movie night outside. It has even drawn some attention from neighbours in the area, as people come to see what it's all about.
But the igloo is by no means the first or only activity Tenorio has done with her children thanks to the inspiration she finds in the online 1,000 hours community. When speaking to the Tribune, she and her children were experimenting with making outdoor ice ornaments, with natural materials found in nature frozen into cake rings to display outside.
Another winter one included creating fun interactive sculptures by wetting clothes and then freezing the clothing overnight. The wet clothes were then shaped into fun forms in the yard.
She also has photos from an outdoor hot tub made entirely of snow, with her daughter enjoying a dunk. Tenrorio said the warm tub lasted about 20 minutes, plenty of time for some fun after the family had built it together.
The family also goes "aurora hunting", seeking out spots for good viewing of the northern lights, watching an app together to find out which nights will be good times to catch the dancing natural light show.
Tenorio came to Canada with her then husband in 2019 to settle in Quesnel, where his family had been for 14 years. When their marriage fell apart, she moved to Williams Lake in March 2024 for a fresh start. She had a friend in the city, and found work here. Tenorio said she's grateful for all of the opportunities the community has for her children with the youngest in preschool and the older one attending the Sacred Heart Catholic School.
She now works three jobs to support her children and her younger sister, Mikaela, who came over from the Philippines in April to help Tenorio manage the children and her busy schedule. Yet somehow she still finds time to take her kids outside.
"When you're a mom, you've got no choice - you just do it," she said of fitting it all in. Despite the challenges, she's loving the lakecity and the new life her little family has found here.
"I feel like I've gained my confidence and power back," she said.
No stranger to having to work hard to support family, Tenorio has been the breadwinner for her mom and two sisters since she was 19.
"Family is number one for me," she said.
But even juggling all this, the young mom is helping to organize a Filipino dinner as a fundraiser for the Sacred Heart Catholic School in March to support the financially troubled school.
"It's very natural for me to help, I think it's very innate," she said, using the word Bayanithan for the dinner, a Filipino word meaning "the spirit of communal unity, work and cooperation to achieve a particular goal."
