ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center In Burlington, VT Offers Something for Everyone

If you are looking for a place that has something for everyone, ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center is the place to go. Located in Burlington, Vermont near Lake Champlain, Echo features various exhibits and programs. Founded in 2003, ECHO is part of the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, an environmental campus. The Center was named in honor of Senator Patrick Leahy and wife Marcelle.

Among the permanent exhibits, there is FrogWorld, which has 15 different frog species from all over the world and information about their habitats. Then there’s Into the Lake, an aquatic display featuring prominent fish to observe, and feedings take place. You can also venture in The Land of Opportunity, which has the Upper River exhibit, home to fish, turtles, amphibians, and more. It also houses the Animal Care Room which has reptiles and amphibians. Visitors can learn about feeding and caring for the animals as well as take “behind the scenes” tours.

The many programs at ECHO feature something for everyone. There is a pre-school program with fun activities. Of course, no science center would be complete without a summer camp for kids. They have different programs from kindergarten to 6th grade. In addition, there are educational programs for students K-6 as well as high school and college initiatives. They include volunteering, youth conferences, and endeavors where teachers can engage with students in material at the Center on a deeper level. Groups can even stay overnight for a sleepover!

The website features information on upcoming exhibits, calendars, and how to become a member. In addition, they have a dedicated education staff that teach visitors about all the creatures that live at ECHO. They also have their Open Door resources, which strive to make the Lake Aquarium and Science Center accessible to the general public, regardless of cultural or financial background. There are things to do, see, and discover. ECHO is a place of various interactive experiences. You can learn about marine life as well as the history of the land, so check it out. It is a fun and engaging center for the whole family.

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Along The Edge Of Lake Champlain Lies Burlingtons Historic Oakledge Park

Burlington’s own Oakledge Park, located on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, has tremendous features. It’s natural beauty impresses visitors. It is known for the first wheelchair accessible tree house, bike trails and Bocce Ball courts. The picnic pavilions, baseball diamonds and tennis courts define the park for many Burlington residents. Bathers use the cove as a swimming beach. The cliffs and rocky shoreline offer exciting diving opportunities.

It also has a fascinating and intriguing history. Students discovered the park’s story while learning through the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont program and shared it with the community. They began their inquiry with questions about the park’s development as a natural science project and uncovered archeological evidence of structures that existed years ago, significantly, the Oakledge Mansion and eight bungalows in the area. The kids pursued the story of the Webb Family farm and the Oakledge Mansion, contrasting the present with the past and the sensibility of the people in the past.

The remains of chimneys and foundations of seven or eight small bungalows that stood in the natural setting surrounding the Oakledge Mansion became known. This led to the uncovering of old photographs of structures in the area and the story of how the city bulldozed the mansion to make room for the roads and park structures. Aerial photos of the park forty years ago show the contrast with aerial photos today.

The exciting activities people enjoy in the park today have a historical context. Before the park’s development, people in the area enjoyed a much simpler way of life. They used the land differently than we use it. Today, experts consider natural issues as well as development issues when they make decisions. The history of the park can only enlighten them.

Much can be learned from the kids’ findings about how communities develop parks and what an asset Oakledge Park is to Burlington. With developed features like volleyball courts, walking trails and other features, we can only benefit. With such natural beauty and human history, Oakledge Park gives us an insight into managing our natural resources. Oakledge Park’s expansive space and significant features are a tremendous asset to the Burlington community.

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What Mortgage Pre-qualification Means For Burlington Home Buyers

Are you looking to purchase a home in the Burlington area? If so, you should talk to your loan officer about mortgage pre-qualification. Mortgage pre-qualification is basically a process that allows you to quickly get in position to obtain a loan from a financial institution. It helps you figure out how much of a mortgage you can afford to take out based on your previous financial history.

Why should you go through pre-qualification? If you’re serious about purchasing a home in Burlington, then getting pre-qualified will give you an idea of where you stand. You can shop around the loan amount and terms that fits in with your financial profile rather than waste time exploring options that are not feasible. You’ll also be able to use this information to start shopping around for the best lender.

What’s the first step? Many lenders have an online application you can fill out on their website. Make sure that you have all the necessary information such as your credit score, income tax information for the past two years, and proof of employment. The more information you submit, the higher the chance your application will get approved.

While you may feel inclined to submit your application to as many lenders as possible, do not do so. Work with one lender at a time as going to multiple lenders at once can hurt your credit score. You should get a response on your application fairly quickly. If you don’t get preapproved, ask the lender what the problem is. It can be anything from a low credit score, too much debt, to a limited financial history. Once you fix the problem, you can reapply.

Here are some tips to choose the right lenders after you’ve had a couple of approvals:

1. Even if you can get a bigger loan than you originally intended, stick to a budget that you can afford.

2. Determine the length of your mortgage term an accurate down payment. This will allow lenders to give you their interest rate, which will help you make the best financial decision.

3. Research different lenders and check out their ratings/reviews. Sometimes it’s not always about the money. You are often better off paying a little more to work with a reliable lender.

So before you start talking to real estate agents in Burlington, go through the mortgage pre-qualification process. You’ll feel more confident your purchase decision and also save time by looking at the right homes for your budget.

via http://michaelblanchard.benchmark.us/2013/08/23/what-mortgage-pre-qualification-means-for-burlington-home-buyers/

Creative Ways to Workout at Home for Busy People

A lot of people don’t exercise because they choose not to pay fancy gym memberships, but that shouldn’t be an excuse to avoid working out. The benefits of daily exercise are numerous, and believe it or not, you can get more than enough exercise right from your own home. You don’t need pricey exercise equipment either; all you really need is enough space to move around. Here you’ll find a few creative ways to workout at home:

Try Yoga

Yoga offers numerous benefits like strengthening your core and lowering your stress levels. Practicing yoga will also help you lengthen and strengthen your limbs. Some types of yoga, like power yoga, are also helpful for toning up and losing weight. All you need to start practicing yoga is a mat and an exercise video. YouTube has a good selection of yoga exercise videos, or you can buy different programs on DVD. Another benefit of yoga is that you don’t need too much space to do it, which makes it one of the easiest ways to workout at home.

Just Dance

Another way you can exercise at home is to blast some tunes and dance. Dancing is a great cardiovascular activity that can really help you shed some weight. You don’t need to purchase any equipment to exercise this way, but you will need some music to set the mood. Also, you can wear a heart rate monitor to see if you can keep your heart rate up.y

Jump Rope

Jumping rope is a popular way to workout at home. Jumping rope is a great way to get the body of your dreams because in a single hour, you can burn up to 1,000 calories. Skipping rope also strengthens legs, flattens abs, tones arms and melts fat quickly. You don’t need a lot of space to skip rope, nor do you have to purchase expensive equipment. Jumping rope is such an effective workout that even professional athletes do it for conditioning.

Hula Hoop

The hula hoop is the ideal tool for whittling your waist. In a single hour, you can expect to burn up to 400 calories. Not only will it help you minimize the circumference of your waist, hula hooping also flattens the tummy and tones the legs. The hip movements also help you lift and tone your bum and rid yourself of saddlebags.

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Burlington, VT Celebrates Locally Grown Foods During Eat Local Week 2013

Burlington residents and visitors alike are in for some home-grown fun during the week of October 5th through the 13th. Eat Local Week 2013 is a city-wide, week-long celebration of our local farms and locally grown food — two things that make the city a great place to live.

Here are the different ways you can take part in the celebration:

- Dine at local restaurants. During Eat Local Week, some of the most popular restaurants in Burlington will be joining in the celebration by offering at least one dish that is made completely with local ingredients. It’s a great opportunity to try a new restaurant or revisit one of your favorites, all while supporting local farmers. If you’re visiting from out of town, check out the restaurants’ websites or ask for recommendations from residents to decide where to go — or just try as many as you can while you’re here!

- Submit an entry in the “Who Grew Your Food?” photo contest. This fun contest is taking place on the Facebook page for Eat Local Week. To participate, all you have to do is take a picture of a meal you’re about to eat that contains ingredients from local farms or producers. Upload the photo to the Facebook page and tag it with all of the farmers who produced the ingredients. There’s no limit to the number of tags or photos you can submit, and the pictures will be judged in several different categories. The winner of each category gets a $50 gift card for City Market!

- Sign up for the Harvest Fun Run/Walk for Sustainability. This family-friendly event on Saturday, October 12th features a 5K along with a 1K just for kids; be sure to sign them up as well so they can get a pumpkin prize! Stick around after the race to try food from local vendors. Proceeds from this event benefit the Sustainability Academy, a local school focused on teaching its students the importance of sustainability.

- Volunteer. If you’d like to get more involved, the Harvest Fun Run/Walk for Sustainability is looking for volunteers to help with the event. Information about volunteering can be found on the Eat Local Week website.

Eat Local Week 2013 promises to be full of good food and good fun in Burlington. Mark your calendar for the second week in October, and enjoy some of the great local food the city has to offer.

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Church Street Marketplace In Burlington, VT Offers Something For Everyone

It’s no coincidence that Burlington, Vermont has received numerous accolades, such as Prettiest Town in America (Forbes, May 2010) and Top One Hundred Places to Live in America (Relocate America, April 2010). The town is full of majesty, from its beauty to its success to its heart. The Church Street Marketplace is no exception. It bustles with life and a classic charm that is rare to see in a mall today. A person might even be a little shocked to find out that it is a mall. Instead of bright and vacuous, the marketplace is as welcoming as can be. Only about thirty of these outdoor pedestrian malls still exist, making the Church Street Marketplace rarer still.

Shoppers promenading along the brick walkway will have no fear of traffic, because the two blocks of marketplace are off-limits to vehicles. Only buses may cross, and only at two intersections. This was decided in 1979, when the plan for the marketplace that we see today was created and voted on. The Church Street Marketplace, though a prosperous mall now, began as an experimental street fair. The idea was to test the feasibility of a mall. When fifteen thousand people came to the very first holding of the street fair, it was obvious that a shopping mall would be very popular in the location.

The diversity of the marketplace is another quality that is unique to it. Reputable stores and restaurants like Ben and Jerry’s, Eddie Bauer and American Eagle are present, but so are the smallest of local businesses. A very good example is Church Street Hats, a permanent but mobile cart on Church Street. It is filled with beautiful and interesting hats, all one-of-a-kind and handmade by the vendor, who is affectionately known as “The Hat Lady.”

This month shoppers can enjoy the Ben and Jerry’s Annual Music Festival, the Let it Rain Concert Series, and the Burlington Farmer’s Market, all once a week. One-time events include the Cardboard Box Parade, which is fun for the kids to design and fun for the parents to watch. Whether you want to shop for some sharp new clothes, listen to some live music, try a local brewery, eat out in a beautiful setting, or watch a funny parade, I believe that the Church Street Marketplace is the place to be.

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Join The Vermont Lake Monsters As They Celebrate Their 20th Season At The Historic Centennial Field

The Vermont Lake Monsters are celebrating their 20th season, and the time to join in the celebration is now as the regular season will be coming to a close on Sept. 4. The Lake Monsters have delighted fans young and old ever since they started playing at the historic Centennial Field in 1994. The team is currently affiliated with the Oakland Athletics after spending its first 17 years with the Montreal Expos franchise that became the Washington Nationals in 2005.

Many of those who have attended a game here over the past 20 years have revisited those memories this summer. Some were taken to a game as a child and are now bringing their own children to hear the crack of the bat and enjoy their first sight of the beautiful grass. Some have attended games in the past and moved away from Burlington and want to once again enjoy a game here on a warm summer evening.

Those who do take in a game at Centennial Field will be heading to one of the most historic baseball stadiums in the country. The first game played here was on April 17, 1906. On that day, the University of Vermont defeated the University of Maine, 10-4. At that time, baseball was the most popular sport on the UVM campus. The stadium has been steadily modernized throughout its history. Most recently, the Lake Monsters installed a beautiful video board and scoreboard in 2012.

Fans who attended games in 1989, 1991, 1995, 1996 or 2011 enjoyed watching a championship team as those clubs won division and/or league titles in each of those seasons. The last day of the 2011 regular season was especially exciting as the Lake Monsters defeated the Tri-City ValleyCats, 11-7, and then waited more than an hour for further good news, a 6-5 loss by Connecticut in a 16-inning thriller with Lowell. That result allowed Vermont to win the division on a tiebreaker after the clubs finished tied for first.

Those heading to Centennial Field for the first time will be pleased to learn that free parking is readily available. Parking right at the stadium is also available for $3. The facility is located just to the east of the University of Vermont. Those driving from downtown should head east on Pearl Street and then continue on it when it turns into Colchester Avenue. The stadium is located less than a mile from where the name change takes place at the intersection with North Prospect Street. Fans who want to embark on a beautiful walk from downtown should expect the journey to take about 30 minutes.

via http://michaelblanchard.benchmark.us/2013/08/09/join-the-vermont-lake-monsters-as-they-celebrate-their-20th-season-at-the-historic-centennial-field/

5 Creative Ways for Burlington Home Buyers to Save Up A Down Payment

Mortgages, bank loans, and down payments. Oh, my! Burlington residents looking for the money to purchase a new home probably find themselves feeling overwhelmed. When you’ve set yourself into a certain routine and budget for months or years, it can be hard to change, but it is possible. A few creative changes will have you saving up to buy a home in no time!

Automatically Save Money

Chances are, you have your check direct deposited into your bank. Chances are, you have a savings account that never hears from your checking account. Change that. Set up your direct deposit to automatically put a specified amount into your savings account each pay period.

Try Some Crowdsourcing

Ask people for money. Now, I don’t mean go panhandling in front of the local Walmart. Ask you family and friends for gifts of money toward your dream. Every dollar helps and gifts will be much better for your credit score than a loan will be. You can receive up to $12,000 per person annually before you need to report the money as income. Some websites even allow you to start a crowdsourcing website. Imagine if you created one of those and it happened to go viral. Stranger things have happened!

Stop Going to Subway

Sure, it’s convenient, and when you’re buying a $5 footlong, it doesn’t seem like much, but you need to think of the big picture. Say you eat Subway for lunch three times a week, spending $8 (you can’t forget the chips and a drink!) each time. That’s $24 a week, or $96 a month, or $1,152 a year. Now, imagine if you cut out other dining out treats as well. You could have a down payment in no time.

Become a Coupon Queen

Clip coupons, find them and print them out online, and take advantage of every sale you can. There are coupons for everything, from groceries to haircuts. If you typically spend $75 on a haircut and you find a coupon that allows you to get it for $45, automatically put the extra $30 into your savings. Your money will start piling up.

Go Real World…Without the Crazy

If you have the extra space, think about getting a roommate. Perhaps you have a friend that you trust to share costs with. If you’re single and super adventurous, you can even find roommates on Craigslist as long as you follow some safety precautions. If you take on a roommate or decide to room with someone else, put the savings you have each month directly into your house fund.

Saving money to buy a house doesn’t have to be scary and doesn’t have to take away from your current quality of life. A few simple adjustments is all it takes to be well on your way to home, sweet home.

via http://michaelblanchard.benchmark.us/2013/08/06/5-creative-ways-for-burlington-home-buyers-to-save-up-a-down-payment/

Get The Kids On A Back To School Schedule

The kids have been staying up late all summer, going to sleepovers, playing video games and having a blast. But now it’s August, and the days of getting up early for school are looming.

How do you get them on a back to school schedule?

Don’t worry; with a little planning, the back to school schedule can be something that everyone eases into, instead of a shock to the system. This will make the transition to the school year go much smoother, and still provide some last-minute summer fun.

The first step is to use science to your advantage.

People have a natural sleep cycle called the circadian rhythm, that tells our bodies to sleep when it’s dark and stay up when it’s light. About two weeks before school starts, give the kids a bedtime, but make it only about an hour before they’ve been going to bed. If they’ve been staying up until midnight, make their bedtime eleven p.m. Every couple of days move their bedtime up an hour, so that by the time school starts, they’re used to sleeping and getting up on a back to school schedule.

The good thing about this is that they’re still going to bed when it’s dark, so they’re more likely to actually sleep. The shortening days of late summer will also be helpful here. To further promote good sleep, cut off any food or drinks with caffeine, like soda or chocolate, by the early afternoon. Also, if the kids are playing outside, bring them in a couple of hours before bedtime so they can wind down and relax. They can read, watch TV or play games.

To make the transition to a back to school schedule even more manageable, plan some fun outings during the last few days before school, and make them activities that start early in the morning. An all-day trip or outdoor adventure will be great motivation for getting up with the sun.

Of course, it’s still school, and they still may not be thrilled with going.

Remind your kids that getting on a back to school schedule leads to seeing their friends and having fun with them again!

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