Saturday, my daughter-in-law and my grandchildren and I headed for Aurora, Illinois, to see a play called "Junie B. Jones." Aurora is a town filled with history. After parking the car, we saw a building where Union Officers would gather for parties. In front of that building were two Confederate cannons. Across the street from that building was an Snow Portrait of Lincoln by Joe Cagnepain http://artbyjoseph.com/index.htm. Mr. Cagnepain has ancestors on his mother's side which are cousins to Mary Todd Lincoln. Then we checked out the Gallery and Museum Shop, located at 20 East Downer Place. The store clerk asked the grandchildren if they would like to paint something and so they did. There were also interesting magnets which could be placed on a man's head or a woman's head. Both heads appeared to be made out of ceramic. Then we walked down a passageway between one block and another by a river. Icicles hung from top of buildings all the way down to the bottom of the buildings. I have never seen such huge icicles! The river was partially open. One large piece of ice floated downstream. When we finally arrived at the Paramount Theatre, we were pleasantly surprised to find an old ticket booth enclosed inside like a museum. Entry to that area was locked! We walked a bit further and found the real entrance. What a delight to be in old theatre with paintings on the walls and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It was a lovely place to be. We all enjoyed the play because of all the singing and dancing and funny journal entries about going into first grade.

I will end this entry with a quote by Joseph Gagnepain "I love snow sculpting...being close to nature, enjoying crisp/dry winter air, and being hands on with the pristine beauty of wonderful, white snow. I look forward to a good snowy, cold winter each year."