Images: The Week in Pictures

  Alexa Bejarano, 5, of Aurora, runs to a yellow slice of color under the parachute activity at the annual Fitness Fun Fair for Kids at the Vaughn Athletic Center in Aurora on Saturday. The Bejarano family are members of the center and have been coming to the Fun Fair for the past three years.

  Dressed in WWI French infantry soldier wearing a gas mask, Josh Melnychuk of Barrington caught my eye at the recent Military History Fest at the Pheasant Run Resort and Conference Center in St. Charles. To me, the mask made him look like a cross between a Lego character and something out of the Star Wars trilogy, though its design dates back to 1916.

  I took over 4,000 photographs at the IHSA state cheerleading finals in Bloomington, including this one, where I positioned myself so the spot lights came from the right. This creates a draping effect of of light on the Mundelein High School cheer squad. Light from a side-angle creates shape and texture. Next time you take a portrait, place the subject next to a window so light is coming from a side-angle. This photo was published in the weekly Perspective column in the print edition.

  A worker uses a leaf blower to clear late afternoon snow from already-plowed sidewalks at Elgin City Hall Monday.

  Celia Aronoff, 2, top, and her nine-month-old sister Violet, ride in a sled with her parents, Ryan and Holly, in Vernon Hills Monday as snow came down throughout the day in Lake County.

  Third graders Katelyn Fletcher, left, and Mackenzie Czapla, jump rope together during Jump Rope for Heart Tuesday at Mechanics Grove School in Mundelein. Students in grades third through fifth raised money for the American Heart Association.

  Joyce Senters, of St. Charles, snow shoes through Wheeler Park in Geneva Tuesday. Tuesday's relatively balmy high in the 40s had Senters all smiles as she trekked through the snow. "It's so beautiful out with the fresh snow and the blue skies," she said. "What's not to smile about?"

  This massive icicle, dripping into an alley from the back side of the Piece-A-Cake Bakery store in East Dundee, drips constantly in the warm weather Wednesday. The two-story ice formation was the result of a roof drain leading out onto the face of the building. And from the size of it, it's going to take more than just a few warm days to make it disappear.

  Mike Hamlin, 26, of Schaumburg, clears out the ice and snow from his driveway as his house sits on a low end of the road as the winter thaw starts. "It was a couple of inches deep, enough to cover my foot," he said as his first order of business was to clear the grate in the street. For over two hours until it was time for him to leave for work he chopped away at ice chunks at the end of his driveway and street.

  Arlington Heights sewer and streets workers Jim Schmid and Shawn McAlpin clear a street drain in the Northgate subdivision on Thursday in Arlington Heights.

  Snow drifts over Route 176 just west of Island Lake Friday morning.

Christopher Hankins/chankins@daillyherald.comStrong winds created near white-out conditions on the eastbound Jane Addams Tollway west of Elgin Friday morning.

  Jackie Kator, of Elgin, battles the wind and cold at the Arboretum in South Barrington.

  A shopper makes his way through the Wheaton Mariano's parking lot as windy weather blasts through the area.

  Streamwood firefighter/paramedic Brandon Mears simulates going down the Streamwood Fire Station No. 1's pole on Thursday in Streamwood. Mears said it's the only Streamwood station with a pole and the firefighters really use it. Their bunks are near the the top of the pole.

  New Elgin police dog Colt rolls on the ground in the lobby of the station. Officer Chad Schuttrow is the new handler.

  Meadowdale Elementary first-grader Juan Tinajeros sails across the floor on a wheeled scooter as he and his classmates try out their own version of the olympic skeleton event Friday in Carpentersville.

  Larkin High School faculty member Adam Baxter braces against the wind as he helps to porter racks of vintage clothing into the Hemmens Auditorium Friday afternoon in preparation for the Cat's Pajamas Chicagoland Vintage Clothing, Jewelry and Textile Show & Sale.

  Kara White, 14, of Hoffman Estates, wears a SWAP hat, which displays items she has collected from each station during "Thinking Day," an international festival of sisterhood in the Conant High School cafeteria Saturday morning.

  Lucas Harrington, 5, of Lake Zurich, doesn't let the freezing temperature deter him from enjoying the swing while being pushed by his brother, Danny, 7, during the Winter Wonderland Carnival at Community Park in Hawthorn Woods Saturday.

  Grayslake Police Department members Joe Holtz, as Chewbacca, left, and Steve Teschner, as Darth Vader, dive in the pools during Fox Lake's Polar Plunge Sunday at Lakefront Park. The ice on the lake was over two feet thick and could not be cutout this year, so almost 500 participants took to jumping into frigid pools set up near the lake.