Girls Day at the Fort

My daughter and I have our own special ritual we observe, just the two of us. We leave the boys at home and head out for an afternoon of shopping in Fort Langley. For those of you unfamiliar with Fort Langley, it’s a small village in the township of Langley here in the Fraser Valley. Fort Langley is known as the birthplace of BC, it was the site of the first European settlement in southern BC and the “Fort”, an original fur trading post, still stands today.

But enough history, we come for the shopping! Despite her discomfort at having to pass by the old Fort Langley Cemetery, where she’s sure zombies reside and skeletons will arise from beneath the mossy? marble headstones, Anika gets truly excited about getting to visit her favorite store, the Fort Toy Box.

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The Fort Toy Box is always our first stop. There’s an especially cool pink Radio Flyer race car scooter out front that Anika has been coveting for months, despite the fact she’s far too old to use it! Today we settled on a couple of cute bride and groom rubber duckies, an egg of silly putty and some Lincoln Logs for Mattie. Anika loves the store, and I must say I enjoy the timeless array of classic tin and wood toys. Next time we visit, we have to remember to bring back the coloring page we always leave with and have so far never remembered to bring back in order to enter their coloring contest for a chance to win a toy gift basket worth $150!

Next on the agenda: TAP – True Aromatherapy Products. I must admit, while their products are top quality and their selection amazing, we keep going back for the service. Their staff never fails to greet us warmly and politely when we arrive and always offer us a hot cup of tea. Anika enjoys sitting on the couch, sipping her herbal tea in a fine china teacup, while mom deliberates over which bath salts to buy and which essential oils to scent them with. Today I tried something new, a chocolate scented mud bath which is said to draw out toxins. I’m just hoping the chocolate scent doesn’t make me quit my diet….what was I thinking?!

Today we found a new store. A store I’ve luckily never seen or heard of until today otherwise I’d weigh 300lbs already. After purchasing the chocolate mud bath, I must have created a craving for the rich, brown, evil stuff as my nose led me to Euphoria Handcrafted Chocolate. Located right off the main intersection in town on Glover just before 96^th Avenue, we stumbled accidentally into this den of hedonism. Angela, their chocolatier, has amassed a dieter’s Achilles heel. Imagine rows and rows of freshly rolled, molded, dipped and dusted confections made with Pure Belgium chocolate. All their chocolates are made with the finest ingredients and contain no wax or trans fats. I think I’m in love!

After spending a small fortune on toys, bath salts & mud and chocolates, we decided to head to our traditional final Fort destination, the 50’s style diner for an ice cream cone. Normally we’d stop for a browse through Wendel’s Bookstore, but having already spent several hours window shopping, we figured it was time to go home. Anika chose a chocolate chip mint cone today instead of her usual blue bubblegum and poor mom didn’t get so much as one lick. (I’m saving room for the chocolates with shaved almonds I bought)

All in all, it was a gorgeous spring day, the sun was shining and I was nearly blinded by it’s reflection in the acres of flooded fields driving into the Fort. Let’s hope the rains stay away for a few more days or we’ll all end up with waterfront property soon!

If not, I’ll be in my chocolate mud bath playing with the kids new rubber duckies eating bonbons! Cheers!