“I found pictures of igloos people built with molds for the blocks and added food coloring to change the color. I showed pictures to Atlas and he wanted to make one just like that,” he said.

Last year they started building the igloo but began too late in the year and it melted before they were able to complete it.

“He was asking for us to build another one the first time it snowed this winter and again on Christmas break, but I had a different plan,” he said.

Neuens ordered disposable bake pans and started making ice every day beginning on Jan. 5.

The igloo lit up at night. (Wayne Neuens photo)

“I did a test run using old mushroom containers and they seemed to work great, but I only had a few, so I ordered 40 disposable pans and making ice became by daily routine,” he said.

During the warm stretch they lost about 100 blocks of ice they’d stockpiled for the build, which put them behind schedule. They were able to complete the igloo last week.

The igloo contains an estimated 350 to 400 blocks of colored ice, Neuens said. He found the frigid minus-20-degree temperatures were perfect for the build and freeze process.

He and his three sons — Walker, 10, Atlas, 8, and Caspian, 6 — slept in the igloo last weekend.

“I didn’t realize it was going to be minus 10 when we woke up in the morning,” Neuens said. “I piped in heat from a small diesel heater outside of the igloo and used a piece of Styrofoam as a makeshift door. We filled the bottom of the igloo with hay from my neighbor and brought in blankets and a TV and a bunch of snacks. It was surprisingly comfortable. It actually got a little too warm and started dripping on us. We had to pause the movie and knock a block out of the ceiling with a hammer to make a bigger hole for the heat to escape.”

Wayne Neuens with sons Caspian, Walker and Atlas inside the igloo they made in Aurora, Wis. They spent the night in the igloo last weekend. (Wayne Neuens photo)

“I’m guessing this will be a new tradition. The kids really enjoyed it,” Neuens said.

They now are planning an overnight fishing trip in a portable ice shack in a couple of weeks.

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Marguerite Lanthier can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 85242, or mlanthier@ironmountaindailynews.com.

Some of the colored ice blocks the Neuens made for an igloo they built at their home in Aurora, Wis. For fun they made a few blocks out of Kool-Aid. (Wayne Neuens photo)