Carowinds Boomerang Bay Water Park the Perfect Antidote to Carolina Heat Wave

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Here it is, Saturday morning on this beautiful day in July, and my air conditioner is on high. My daughter is oblivious to the heat.

I hop out of bed and open the blinds to get a better look at the city. Charlotte, N.C., is so beautiful and bright. I love the Carolina blue sky line. I look at my daughter playing on the living room floor and I have a great idea. Carowinds Boomerang Bay Water Park! It's way too pretty to be sitting indoors today. I'm so excited! I shout to my daughter, "Who wants to go to Carowinds?"

She responds in her high pitch three year old voice, "Mommy I do!" I am smiling ear to ear because she reminds me of myself when I use to go to Carowinds when I was a kid. We are dancing and cheering up and down in the living room. I call my daughter's father to let him know our plans for today. All afternoon, my daughter is interrogating me about the details of today's activities. Finally, her father is pulling up in his silver Sebring with summer tunes on blast. Savannah sees her dad walking down the stairs and announces, "Daddy!" "You guys ready to get wet?"

I can't even respond to the question, Savannah has beaten me to it. "Yes daddy! I am ready!" "Well let's go!" He tells her. We walk to the car and my back starts to sweat immediately. The temperature in the car reads 104 degrees. We drive down I-77 South, exit Carowinds Blvd. I can see the haze in the air beaming off the new ride, "The Intimidator". As we walk inside the theme park, we all have a slight glisten to our skin. We finally approach Boomerang Bay.

The smell of chlorine perfumes the air. I hear little screams from the children running around with excitement. I hear big laughter from the adults watching their kids enjoy themselves. We get our locker and change into our bathing suits. My daughter is the first one to change. She looks adorable in her purple and gold one piece suit with the life vest attached. I am rocking my two piece pink and yellow polka dot bikini. And her father is wearing his favorite Maui print swim trunks.

We hit the kiddy water slide first. The big bucket above our heads is filled with water waiting to tip over. We are soaked beyond belief. The water feels great on our skin. We are instantly cooled off. We slide three more times each before we move on to the tube slides. It's still scorching hot on this Carolina day; however it feels much better wet than dry.

The sun finally descends and our shadows appear. I thank God for the small miracle. The day continues with a whirly wave pool, a crocodile themed lazy river, and of course, more slippery water slides. I am having so much fun watching the excitement in my daughters face. As the day comes to an end, our stomachs are stuffed with corn dogs and blue raspberry ices'. Our fingers and toes are wrinkled from water play. Our bodies are exhausted. As me and my family change out of our bathing suits and back into our civilian clothes, we can't help but to reminisce about today's events. Today was fantastic!

You can't help but to wonder on a day like this, how can anyone stay inside the house and miss out on all this fun Charlotte, North Carolina has to offer.