Do like Isla does and celebrate safely during the lockdown, Iqaluit mom says

This year for her birthday, three-year-old Isla Winter Qapuk Kirk went all out - she had a personal drive-in movie theatre created in Iqaluit for her family and friends.

"We weren't expecting a shutdown to happen again right before her birthday," Miranda Kirk, Isla's mom said.

"And Isla loves birthdays so I thought this would be important for her - to make it special for her," said Kirk.

When asked what movies she watched, Isla started singing the Baby Shark song from Youtube before trailing off in a fit of giggles.

Kirk said she had the idea for the event just a day before the party, but it was a community effort to pull it off.

Thanks to family and friends, the drive-in theatre had a screen set up among seacans, a projector and an FM transmitter so that people could hear the movie through their car radios.

"Everything was no contact, because of COVID[-19] right now. So I was sending messages to everyone from my phone. And at the end of the movie everybody honked their horns to say happy birthday," Kirk said.

The young mom added that it's especially important to find ways to celebrate and share positivity during the lockdown.

"It's good to get creative, think outside the box," said Kirk.

"Continuing on with our lives but following proper protocol and restrictions put in place for health reasons, and just trying to keep some positivity in our daily lives," she said.

It's a message that other Nunavummiut may have to take to heart as the lockdown continues: Do like Isla does and find safe ways to celebrate.