Hi friends!
One of my favourite genres of entertainment is watching our close friends flip out over how my husband talks to our girls.
Our 5-year-old was heading out with a friend of ours for a few hours, and the 2-year-old was screaming to go with them.
5-year-old to her sister: “You can’t come, because you’ll get tired... hmm, no, actually that’s not true. I don’t want you to come this time. I want to spend time alone with her.”
My husband: “That was very kind.”
Our friend: “BUT... SHE JUST SAID SHE DOESN’T WANT HER TO COME!”
My husband: “Yeah! Saying it how it is to someone you love is an act of kindness.”
On her way out, our friend mouthed “whatever.”
The 5-year-old offered a goodbye hug. Her sister refused, protesting loudly.
That was 10 minutes ago. The 5-year-old is out. The 2-year-old and my husband went to the playground. And I sat down with a cup of tea to write this for you before I forget a word.
Here’s what’s inside this issue:
🚚 Free dump truck build: Home Depot's sign-up opens at 10:30am today, and spots go fast.
🍎 Winter Banana: a real apple, and you can buy one this weekend.
🐳 Night at the museum: by donation on Thursday, home before bedtime.
🗳️ Two elections: the City's last advance voting day is today.
Let's get into it. 👇🏼
🚚 Build a Dump Truck at Home Depot (book at 10:30am today)
The workshop is a month away. The scramble is this morning.
Build a Dump Truck is Home Depot's free Kids Workshop: each child builds one, then takes it home with a pin. Registration opens at 10:30am today, and spots tend to go within minutes.
📅 When: Saturday, November 14
⏰ Time: 8:30am or 10:30am session
🧒 Ages: 5 to 12 (a parent or guardian stays throughout)
💵 Cost: Free (the paint-aisle detour afterwards is on you)
The Move
Set an alarm for 10:20am. When it rings, open Cambie's workshop page (the link picks the store for you). No account needed: just a parent's name, email and head count (up to 4 children per sign-up).
At 10:30am, refresh, register for Build a Dump Truck and pick a session. If it says Registration Full, switch to Terminal Ave and go again. A few minutes this morning buys a rain-proof Saturday in November.
Know a family with a truck lover? Forward this before 10:30am.
📌 The Notice Board
🚧 Oak St Squeeze (W 38th to W 42nd)
The Oak St bottleneck around 41st has four more days to go.
Sewer connection work means fewer lanes and some turns off-limits, day and night, on the main road to the Oak Street Bridge.
📍 Where: Oak St, W 38th to W 42nd Ave
📅 When: 24/7 through Fri, Oct 16
The Move
Take Cambie or Granville for north-south trips this week. Bridge or YVR run? Add 15 minutes. Cheaper than a missed flight.
🚧 Georgia Viaduct: No Main Street Exit Until About New Year's
Driving home from downtown on the Georgia Viaduct? Its Main Street exit is still closed. Forget, and you'll land on Prior Street, heading east.
📅 When: Since October 2, for about three months. Fewer lanes on the viaduct until spring 2027
The Move
Skip the viaduct: take Pacific Boulevard east, under it. Pacific turns into Quebec Street by Science World, a block west of Main. It gets the odd lane closure too, but at least it ends where you expect.
🔦 The Great BC ShakeOut (Thursday)
At 10:15am Thursday, more than 770,000 people across BC are signed up to crawl under a table. On purpose.
It's the Great BC ShakeOut: one minute of Drop, Cover and Hold On, wherever you are. The Vancouver School Board has signed up 55,000 people, so ask for a demo at dinner.
📅 When: Thursday, October 15
⏰ Time: 10:15am (about one minute)
📍 Where: Wherever you are at 10:15
💵 Cost: Free
📝 Register: Optional, families welcome
The Move
Make it a six-minute drill. Click the junk-drawer flashlight: if it's dead (it's always dead), batteries go on the grocery list.
Then check your water against the target: four litres per person, per day, for at least three days. For a family of four, that's 48 litres (a dozen 4L jugs). Five minutes, and the grocery list writes itself.
🍎 UBC Apple Festival (This Weekend)
There's an apple called Winter Banana, and you can buy it this weekend.
The UBC Apple Festival turns 35 with about 50 apple varieties for sale and an all-you-can-sample Tasting Tent. Children get the famous leaf pile and steel drums.
📅 When: Sat Oct 17 and Sun Oct 18
⏰ Time: 11am to 4pm (timed entry)
💵 Cost: $15 online, $18 at the gate. The Tasting Tent is $12 more. Ages 7 and under are free but still need $0 tickets (tent too). No refunds or day swaps.
The Move
Book online today: Saturday's 11am entry is already sold out. Take the earliest slot left and an early tent time. Last year the tent sold out, and so did many favourite varieties.
Park at Thunderbird Parkade ($11 max) for the free shuttle. Or take the R4 from Oakridge-41st to W 16th Ave and walk 15 minutes.
Budget for the bag of apples you swore you wouldn't buy. It runs rain or shine, and the leaf pile handles bedtime.
🐳 After Hours Under the Whale (Thursday at UBC, by donation)
Dinner, blue whale, bath, bed: a perfectly normal Thursday.
UBC's Beaty Biodiversity Museum stays open late for Nocturnal, with admission by donation. Wander under its 26-metre blue whale skeleton, then watch Raising Big Blue, the documentary on how it got up there. (The museum notes some scenes may overwhelm sensitive viewers.)
📅 When: Thursday, October 15
⏰ Time: 5pm to 8:30pm (film 5:30pm, tour 7pm)
🧒 Ages: All ages
💵 Cost: By donation (family passes are normally $35 to $55). Parking is $2.25 per half hour.
The Move
Eat early, then walk in at 5pm, when by-donation entry starts. The 5:30pm film runs 45 minutes, so you're out around 6:15pm and home before bedtime. Save the 7pm tour for night owls.
Park at Health Sciences Parkade, or take the R4 from Oakridge-41st to UBC Exchange, a short walk away. Indoors, by donation, and kind to Friday morning.
🗳️ You're voting twice in October
Yes, twice. Today is the City's last advance voting day.
📅 City, today: 8am to 8pm, any of 59 advance places
📅 City Election Day: Sat Oct 17, 8am to 8pm, any of 85 places
📅 BC advance voting: Fri Oct 16 to Wed Oct 21, 8am to 8pm (not every place opens daily)
📅 BC Final Voting Day: Sat Oct 24, 8am to 8pm
🪪 Not registered for the City vote? Register on the spot with 2 pieces of ID
The Move
Vote today at Hillcrest Centre: free parking, and the library inside has Kids Vote ballots for preschool to Grade 3, from 9:30am.
Can't make it? Do both Saturday: City ballot, then BC advance voting at Langara College. One outing, two elections.
P.S. Got a friend who always says “we should do something this weekend”? Forward this. Saturday's early Apple Festival slots are going fast.
That’s a wrap for this week.
We’ve got this!
Saba Yazdani
The Cambie Memo
