🌿 VanDusen Plant Sale + a Bioblitz Your Kids Will Actually Love

Hi friends!

On Tuesday, I shared a plan: grow to 750 families by May 21 — so when I walk into local businesses to negotiate perks for Cambie Memo families, I've got the numbers to make it worth their while. (Missed it? Read it here.)

You didn't wait. 24 new families joined this week because you hit forward. We're officially doing this.

One thing I didn't think through: a few of you messaged me saying your friends got the forwarded email, read it, liked it… and then had no idea how to subscribe. My bad. Forwarded emails don't come with an instruction manual.

The fix: instead of forwarding, send your people to thecambiememo.com. One page, one button, done. And if you already forwarded Tuesday's email to someone — shoot them a quick text with the link so they can lock it in. 🙏

Also — Sunday reminder: as part of that plan, we landed our first perk. Blaze Cafe at City Square is doing 10% off orders over $10 for Cambie Memo families this Sunday (9 AM – 4 PM). Show this email at checkout. First perk, first of many.

The Weather: ☀️ Dry all weekend. Highs around 14°C with sun and cloud. This is the weekend to be outside.

Option 1: The Main Event

🌿 The Plant Sale at VanDusen Botanical Garden

The Gist: VanDusen's annual plant sale is back — this time in Floral Hall with curated collections of temperate trees, shrubs, perennials, and food plants. It's also Member Appreciation Weekend, so if you've got a membership, you get complimentary refreshments, a free friend pass to bring someone along, and exclusive after-hours access from 5–6 PM.

Why It Wins:

It's on Oak Street. You probably drive past it twice a week. Free parking on-site, which almost never happens for a good outing. Kids get the hedge maze and the lawns while you browse. And if you're a member, this weekend's perks are genuinely great — bring a friend for free.

The Parent Specs:

The Move: Arrive at 10 AM when the plant sale opens and do a lap of Floral Hall first. By 11 the garden fills up. Enjoy the maze after you've secured your plants. Members: the after-hours window (5–6 PM Saturday) is the quietest, most peaceful time if you can swing it.

Why It Matters: It's an actual outing that doubles as a productive errand. You leave with plants for the garden and kids who've been outside for two hours. Worst case, you spend $16 on admission and end up with a tomato plant and a calmer household.

Option 2: The "Low Drag" Play

🎵 Kids Market Weekend — Music + Windchime Craft

The Gist: Granville Island Kids Market is running free live music on Saturday (11 AM – 3 PM) with a rotating lineup of local musicians. On Sunday, they've got a free Make & Take windchime craft (12 – 3 PM) using recycled materials. Both are drop-in, both are free.

Why It Wins:

Free and no registration. Just show up. Two days of programming — pick one or do both. Sunday's craft gives them something to bring home that isn't another rock.

The Parent Specs:

Why It Matters: Free, drop-in weekend stuff with zero planning. If you're the family that just needs something to dowithout a production, this is it.

Option 3: The Wildcard

🔍 City Nature Challenge — Bioblitz at Lynn Canyon

The Gist: The global City Nature Challenge runs this weekend — a worldwide competition where cities document as many wild species as possible. Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre is running guided family bioblitz walks on Saturday and Sunday mornings. You download the iNaturalist app, walk through the park with a guide, photograph plants, animals, and fungi, and upload them to a global database. Your observations count for the District of North Vancouver's team.

Why It Wins:

It's a real-world scavenger hunt with a purpose — kids love it, and it's legitimately educational. Guided walks mean someone else does the teaching and the route planning. It's the kind of thing you'd never find on your own, and your kids will talk about it at school Monday.

The Parent Specs:

The Move: Download the iNaturalist app and set up accounts before you go. The walk is only an hour — you don't want to spend 15 minutes of it fumbling with logins in the parking lot. Registration is required — sign up for Saturday or Sunday.

Why It Matters: This isn't "go for a walk in the woods." It's a guided nature scavenger hunt that's part of a global challenge happening in cities around the world this weekend. Kids get to be real citizen scientists. And honestly? Adults get into it too.

🌍 Party for the Planet — Surrey Civic Plaza

If you're already heading to Surrey this weekend or want a full-day free festival, BC's largest Earth Day celebration is on Saturday, April 25, 11 AM – 7 PM at Surrey Civic Plaza (right beside Surrey Central SkyTrain). It's free, all-ages, and packed: rock climbing wall, Science World demos, Urban Safari Rescue Society (live rescued animals), a kids' craft zone, food trucks, dance battles, a sustainable marketplace, and 750 free tomato plants after the 2 PM Welcome Ceremony. It's a genuine 8/10 event — but it's in Surrey, so it's a commitment. If you go, take the SkyTrain. Limited free parking in the City Hall parkade.