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A serious topic became a fun activity when youngsters got their first taste of scuba diving at Tauranga’s Oceanz Dive Conference and Exhibition held over the weekend.

The conference for dive enthusiasts included Earth2Ocean dive shop using the containers lost overboard from the Rena as inspiration for an interesting challenge in an inflatable pool outside Oceanz’ venue at Baycourt.

Once kids were rigged up with an air tank, they were fitted with blacked-out goggles and told to feel around the floor of the pool to retrieve seven containers – actually lead weights. The reward for perserverance was a bag of lollies.

Tauranga Intermediate pupil Jack McLaren of Papamoa, an enthusiastic free diver who has explored the reefs of Fiji with his parents, needed no persuading to give it a go. A bag of lollies later and he was looking forward to enrolling in one of Earth2Ocean’s 10-week introductory scuba diving courses early next year.

Children from as young as 10 can take the plunge, graduating from Earth2Ocean’s four-metre-deep pool to open water diving. The dive shop’s co-owner Chris Munday said it was a chance for the kids to give it a try and if they liked it they could give it a go for real.

Jack, who can hold his breath for about 75 seconds, said he was really looking forward to not having to surface for lung-fulls of air when he was diving in pursuit of a fish or something else that was interesting. “By the time I have gone back down, the fish can be gone. I’m really looking forward to scuba diving.”

Meanwhile, Oceanz organiser Shane Wasik said the event had been brilliant for the dive enthusiasts who travelled from as far afield as the top of the South Island to attend the rebirth of an event last held in the late-1990s.

The downside to Oceanz 2011 was the disappointing turnout from members of the public to see a fascinating array of exhibits and underwater photos. Mr Wasik, the president of the New Zealand Underwater Association, said they were a bit worried they might not cover their costs and could end up out of pocket. His fiancee Nikki Limond was the other organiser. “It has been a lot of work on top of our day jobs.”

I’m a single mom and have a hard time trying to get my son out of the door. A trip to the community pool takes about five hours and three of those five hours is just getting him ready, prying him from his toys and dragging him there. I purchased this pool to have the pool come to us. It is huge and about the same size as the community kiddie pool. All I have to do is put his trunks on and we are ready for the pool!.My son loves this pool! It is deep enough for him to get the feel of swimming but not too deep for him to feel afraid. This pool is durable and well made.

No Drain Plug – Syphon the Water Out Instead

The biggest concern from most reviewers is the lack of a drain plug. You can easily syphon the water out instead by using about four feet of garden hose. Even if the pool had a drain plug it would be difficult to drain the pool with just the drain plug. At the bottom of this review I am including some basic directions for syphoning.

We purchased one of these at the beginning of summer, and the pool has made it through the summer while withstanding a lot of abuse from our children and their friends. We have a swing set, and we located this under the slide. It is a lot of fun for the kids to slide into the pool. When not sliding into the pool, four or five children can play in it with room to spare. The instructions say not to fill the pool all the way up to the top, but we routinely fill it near the top and this has not caused a problem.

The easiest way to fill the pool up with air is to use the exhaust of a wet/dry vacuum. The ports for filling this with air are sized to fit a hose from a vacuum. Do not buy this unless you have something like a wet/dry vacuum to help you fill it with air.

To syphon water from the pool, submerge a four foot section of garden hose so that it is filled with water. Put your thumb tightly over the end that you will discharge from. Initially, keep the end in the pool as high in the water as possible and the side with your thumb as low as possible. Release your thumb and water should start draining out. Once water starts flowing, position one end to sit at the bottom of the pool and the other end on the ground next to the pool. It is best to syphon from the low spot. To empty all the water takes about an hour.

Glad I took the chance and trusted the positive reviews.,

There were so mixed reviews I was not sure if this would be a good purchase or not. It arrived yesterday and I inflated it with an electric compressor, it took about 40 min. This morning at 5 a.m. I started filling it with water and it took until 6:30 a.m. to fill to the line. I have a smaller size hose so that accounts for it taking longer. I am happy with the quality of the pool it feels like it will hold up, not flimsy. It does have a drain in the bottom.

I called a local pool store and they told me to add 1/8 to 1/4 cup chlorine bleach daily to keep the pool sanitary that I can use it about 5 days then drain and refill. I am glad to hear this, I know standing water that humans have been in breeds bacteria if not treated.

The pool looks really cool too the way they did the clear and the bright green inside. I am using it as an adult to do exercise in. It is deep enough to do leg kicks and move around. I have been sick for 7weeks so this is a good way to ease back into exercise and getting my strength back. It is also just plain fun.

I feel if it lasts one summer I got my moneys worth. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to cool off.

Grandpa’s Daycare activity,

Great size pool to keep my 4 grandkids (ages 3-7)occupied for the summer. This is a my third pool of the same model from the same manufacturer (one lasted a summer, the second one 2 summers). It is a good size for several kids and an occasional hot Grandpa. Some of the previous complaints (too big to inflate, no drain, no filter)have some merit. Fortunately,I’ve got an air compressor that inflates both air chambers in about 10 minutes and a small pump that I hook up to a sprinkler that drains the water once a week. I use a hand held pool skimmer to clean the grass and leaves out every morning. I daycare the kids every weekday and they are in and out of this pool 2 or 3 times every day. I keep the pool on a old 6X9 area rug on the corner of my concrete patio and get a summer’s worth of fun for the kids which is well worth the approx. $40 price. And by the way, this year’s model I received has a drain plug in the bottom. I don’t think I’ll use it ’cause my current system works fine for me and the added plug may cause more problems than it’s worth.

Great Fun for children of all ages…,

We bought it along other water slides and toys for my daughters first Birthday.. this wasn’t particularly for her but most of the children were older than her (2-9 years old)… setup was easy, yes it takes a lot of water but luckily we have a water well, so it wasn’t that expensive to fill it up… emptying the whole thing was easy too…

kids were playing from 1pm till 5pm, parents had to drag them out of it… none of the other water toys were as fun … I would highly recommend it…

Awesome!!!

I bought this for my daughter’s first birthday party! She and all of her friends love it! It’s even fun for her without water in it. Plenty of toys to play with and fun features to keep her entertained. I would buy it all over again!

Great product

I can’t believe people are complaining about deflation. That is what happens with rubber, to stop it exploding it contracts and expands in heat. We have had it up a month in MD heat, the hottest July on record and the rubber got very thin but no issues with it at all.

Both me and daddy jump in with our little girl, we put all of her plastic balls in and she loves it. It is big, takes up her entire nursery. the wading pool is a great depth! I stepped in and it went above my waist. Bright colours and lots of fun.

Fun Pool,

My kids love this pool. So much things to do with it compared to an average baby pool. My 7 year old plays on the back pool, while my baby on the front pool, we also love the shower head, it gives us a rain sort of feel. The only hard part was blowing all the parts, but it didn’t took long. It’s a very good first pool for my baby.

I bought this for my two year old daughter for her birthday, and she loves it. As others have said, it’s actually the size you would expect coming out of the box. I actually inflated it myself without a pump, and it didn’t seem to take that long. I used the larger valves to blow most of the air and once it was close to inflated, I used the smaller valves to finish.

It seems durable enough so far. I will echo one other person’s comment about there not being drains. While they would be nice, it wasn’t that big of a deal to drain this morning. I just stepped on the sides and let a lot of the water drain out that way.

I highly recommend.

Great Pool!!!,

I bought this for my 5 yr old, and she absolutely LOVES it! The only problem I’ve had with it is the rainbow leans a bit, but it’s not that big of a deal. There is a lot of stuff on it to entertain a munchkin which is important, in fact it’s the only pool I’ve seen that has games on it. Most important are the six balls that provide endless entertainment for my kid. It’s a great size, just what I expected. Overall it exceeded my expectations! Someone said there was no drain, mine has a drain in both sections. The sprayer I don’t use,though it looks like fun. I would definitely recommend this product!

Pefect for kids under 4 years old

We bought this for our 19-month-old and his 3 and 4 year old cousins, and it is a tremendous hit. The little one loves the squeakers and the older one loves throwing balls through the rings. When you hook the hose up to the top of the rainbow and turn the pressure up, the shower goes crazy.

We blew up the two pools with the shop vac on reverse, and the rest with an air compressor hooked up to the car battery. We had no problem getting that rainbow upright but still, the whole thing took over 30 minutes to inflate so you’d have to be crazy to attempt it with a bike pump (or your lungs). We have yet to find the elusive pool drain valves that people talk about (and it makes me think there are different, but similar models because the directions were only general and made for several models), but we deflate the 2 pools and drain the water each night before storing it upside-down so that mosquitoes don’t make their home in it anyway. I’ve posted two pictures in the “share your own” gallery at the top of the page.

2011 VERSION HAS DRAIN PLUG

This pool was given as a gift to my girls on their combined 1st and 3rd Birthday Party. I was a little hesitant at first, with all the parts I had to blow up!. A pump is a must for this pool! But, since I have blown it up, it has been great. I have had no problems with the rainbow falling down or pool parts deflating. And YES FOLKS THEY ADDED DRAIN HOLES FOR BOTH SIDES OF THE POOL!!! Hooray!!!! We where worried about that after reading the reviews! Great pool for a 1 and 3 year old!

Ball Pit

I used this pool for my sons first birthday party as a ball pit. I filled it with 450 normal sized ball pit balls and 200 smaller balls and it worked out great. My son and all of the other little guests loved it. I can’t wait to try it out next summer with water… hope it lasts that long

Awesome, good quality pool!!,

I bought this pool used and it still lasted through two summers. The kids loved it! It just started to leak air ( I think i set it up on a thistle) but it is a slow leak. It takes about 5 minutes to inflate with the air compressor and 15-20 to fill up with water. It has two sections and a lot of fun activities to play with. Each section has a drain. I did cut the slide out the second summer because it was hard to clean under. I was able to keep it up for about a week at a time before having to empty, clean and refill. loved it and we will get another one!!

2 kids love it!! well worth the money!,

i bought this pool for my very active 3 1/2 yr old son & my 1 1/2 yr old daugter. they LOVE it!!! my son thought it was way better than the plain rectangular pool we’ve used the past two summers. it is much larger than i expected and it will definitely occupy them for a while. not only do my kids love it, but so do all the kids in our playgroup. i had 6 kids all playing together and no problems at all. i was even thinking of bringing it inside in the winter and using it as a ball pit. this was well worth the money and i am very pleased with this purchase. i would recommend it many times!

Daughter loves the pool.

My 10 month old daughter loves to play in the pool. We put just an inch or two of water and she loves feeling around and going down the slide. I never would have guessed how much entertainment we could get out of it.

Suprising Hit at 4 yr. Birthday Party,

Love this pool. I purchased it for my daughter’s 4th yr. birthday party as a supplement to our large Banzai Waterslide (to give younger kids a place to play). The younger kids, and suprisingly, the older kids enjoyed this pool. The slide took much abuse (used like a bouncer or sometimes a slip and slide) and is still holding up. Kids enjoyed sliding on their stomachs from the deeper pool to shallow and visa-versa. My daughter loves this pool and it has become our go-to weekend pool (Banzai is only brought out for special occassion).

Rainbow Ring Pool Play Center

This pool was a huge hit with my 2 year old grand daughter during her recent weekend visit at Grandma’s house.

Great Pool!

This is a great pool for very little kids. The little slide is great. This pool not only lets kids cool off but also amuses them at the same time. Great for play dates or just family fun!

I bought this book for my 9-year old daughter. She “kinda likes” to read, but it’s not her first choice. SHE LOVES THIS BOOK! She reads it in the morning when she wakes up, before she watches TV. The paper cover comes off and it’s labeled “Chemistry” so it doesn’t look like a “girl book”, in case you take it out in public (or around boys or adults). She refers to it regularly when she “needs advice” on things like – Parents, wearing makeup, clothes, jewelry, what to do about friends or boys, or fun things to do when it’s raining. She’s eating it up. I would suggest an age range of 8-13; it’s written in a fun format, with short sections on a multitude of “girl issues”.

I’m buying it for birthday presents for girls in her class. Highly recommended.

New go-to gift for birthdays

I bought this book for my 11 yo because I had heard Bart speak and he’s pretty funny. She loved it, and I wasn’t sure she would. She’s not a girly-girl either. This is our new go-to gift for birthday presents.

She wouldn’t put it down!

My daughter received the Big Book of Girl Stuff for her 10th birthday, among many other presents. As soon as the last present was opened, she disappeared with the BBOGS only to emerge at noon the next day declaring she’d read it all. She took it outside with her, slept with it, and I’m afraid, yes, it even went into the bathroom with her. After finishing it she showed especially juicy excerpts to the neighborhood girls.

The BBOGS is an addictive ride for the 8 to 13 year old girl.

Whether you are trying to hook your young girl on reading or just open her eyes to the wonderful world of girl stuff – this book will stick to your girl like stink on a monkey!

What a Great Book… What a Great Gift!

My daughter is a discriminating young reader (picky, even!) She got this book as a gift, and after immersing herself in it, she invited some friends over for a slumber party. The group used THE BIG BOOK OF GIRL STUFF as the source for their activities and laughter, so I figured there had to be something to it.

After having read it myself now, I have to say that this book is not only very funny, but it’s also educational and empowering. THE BIG BOOK OF GIRL STUFF is an absolutely great gift to give for a ‘tween or teen… and since I’ve caught one of my boys reading it and chuckling, gender may not matter!

Sister-sister

This was purchased as a gift for a 12 yr old. Upon receiving the gift, her 16 year old sister snatched the book before she could read it. So it looks like it apealling to older ages as well.

Useful for parents too

I found this book at my daughter’s school library and borrowed it for myself. I have browsed portions of this book and I liked it. I am planning to copies for my daughter and my niece… or maybe for myself and my sister so we’d understand our growing girls better. See their world from their point of view and be able to intervene effectively when “girl” problems arise.

Apart from that, it is fun and funny. While clearly my generation is so different from my daughter’s there are still parts of the book that bring nostalgia and draw giggles.

And it’s also entertaining to peek into their “private”, “moms are not allowed” worlds.

A good book to get in a girl’s good books!

The 8th birthday of my overseas friend’s daughter was approaching, so I was facing the ordeal of finding an appropriate (and sendable) gift for a young girl in a different country, hardly having knowledge of current US children’s books (nor of children in general, as a matter of fact). I started browsing Amazon and bumped into this book (don’t ask me how), and based on the reviews I decided to go for it.

This is what her mom & my friend, wrote to me after its arrival:
“She LOVES the book. It’s funny because she’s a really good reader, but she would still rather have me read chapters to her at night instead of reading silently on her own… but this book is a big exception. It came in the mail on Saturday, and she has spent every night since then (except last night, when she was too partied out to do anything but fall asleep) sitting up in her bed reading like crazy. You picked the exact perfect thing for her (even though it’s hard for me to believe that she’s already old enough for that sort of thing– how did this happen?).”

I don’t know what EXACTLY is written in this book, but I can tell you, I am really tempted to get a copy myself now!

My wife was worried when I ordered this book for my 11 year old niece, that it might have content that she wasn’t ready for, regarding menstruation, etc. The subject was brought up in the “emergencies” section, and handled very delicately, I showed it to my wife and her fears were alleviated. I would say it is age-appropriate for any girl who is able to read at a second grade level.
My niece loved the book, she couldn’t put it down all night on Christmas Eve, and had read the entire thing in 3 days. I also got my son “The big book of boy stuff” and they took turns reading bits of their books to each other, and then cracking up, all evening long. It was very nice to look out in the living room and see an 8 year old and an 11 year old with their noses stuck in books, while the PS3 sat, unused in the corner. That is about as good of a recomendation as it gets.

A big hit with 5th grade girls

I purchased this book for my 5th grade daughter and she thoroughly loved it. She brought it to a slumber party where they all took turns reading it and has since loaned it out to several of the girls who wanted to read more. She and I have read it together and enjoyed laughing at the chapter on jokes. It’s filled with the usual “how to” stuff: how to deal with girlfriends, boys, school, etc. but written in a clever, engaging style. The reversable book cover titled “Chemistry” is a big hit too since they read at lunch time in the cafeteria and can conceal the subject matter from the boys. She and her friends now want to read the Big Book of Boy Stuff to figure out the male mind!

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Any young man who can manage to grow up (alive) and retain (most) of their sanity surrounded by five sisters automatically gains my respect. When that young man grows up to be Bart King, author of THE BIG BOOK OF GIRL STUFF, who uses the wisdom, never-ending frustration, and survival instincts honed while growing up with said five sisters, my respect turns to genuine admiration.

Like its predecessor, Big Book of Boy Stuff, The, this book is filled to the brim with helpful tips, life-saving information every girl needs to know (i.e. how to put on eyeliner correctly), the best reversible pink cover in the history of books, and much, much more. Don’t believe me? Categories in this must-have book include:

Babysitting; Girl Power; Boys; Friends, Cliques, Secrets, and Gossip; Fun Stuff to Do; Holidays; Sports and Games; Dance and Cheerleading; Lies, Mean Girls, and Jerks; Ick; Nicknames, Handwriting, Words, and Doodles; Slang; Dolls and Stuffed Animals; Etiquette and Manners; Family; Beauty; Makeup; Sleepovers and Slumber Parties; Hair; Humor; Fashion; How Important are Looks?; Food and Dieting; The Mind, Emotions, and Dreams; Practical Jokes; Girl Secrets: No Boys Allowed!; Girl Emergencies; Pets and Animals; Shopping and Advertising; Wise Words from Wise Women.

Here’s a strategy tip straight from Mr. King himself: If your brother or sister ever tells you to “shut up,” try using this magical spell from ancient times: I don’t shut up, I grow up, and when I look at you, I throw up. Problem solved!

And for those of us (read old) who have gotten behind on the cool (is cool even still cool?) phrases of the day, here’s a few hints: chichi (pronounced shee-shee) means expensive in a tasteless way, harsh the mellow means to upset people, and a nooj is a harmless troublemaker.

I’m telling you, you need a copy of THE BIG BOOK OF GIRL STUFF! Otherwise, you’ll never know what you need to know, while everyone else knows it, which makes you look perflippity (which means silly, by the way).

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka “The Genius”

No Boys Allowed!

Bart King’s five sisters provided great assistance with the writing of this giant book of girl stuff. Students in Bart King’s classes also helped and through the kindness of many girls and women, this book evolved into what it is today.

The pink text in creative fonts makes this mostly black-and-white book much more fun. The images are sketches in pink and the interspersed pastel pink pages are especially pretty. On these pages you find things like:

Top Secret Shopping Information
The Fashion and Beauty Hall of Shame
Makeup Basics
5 Pages of Slang – “Lush” means very good, and is also the name of fun bath products.

The section on perfume includes information on aromatherapy and explores the possible essential oils to create moods, like rosemary can improve memory and concentration. Many of the sections address multicultural issues, like etiquette in Japan.

As far as humor goes, there is plenty to be had and it even left me laughing out loud or snickering to myself. The cartoons are especially funny and some are even helpful suggestions like the one about whining, still whining and “reasonable suggestion” that goes like this:

Picture 1: “Please, please, pleeeaasse?”
Picture 2: “I really need it!”
Picture 3: “Mom, having this laptop will make me a better student. I will be able to get the best education possible and fulfill my ambitions.”

Topics include: Fun Stuff to Do, Holidays, Sports and Games, Etiquette and Manners, Beauty, Family, Humor, Fashion, Food/Cooking, Emotions, Girl Secrets, Dream Symbols, Girl Emergencies, Shipping, Wise Words from Wise Women, Best Friend Test, Friendship Bracelets, Dreams, How to Improve the World, Money, Pets and Animals, Sleepovers, Makeup, Cheerleading, mean Girls and Jerks, Nicknames, Handwriting, Slang, Babysitting, Dolls and Stuffed Animals, Girl Power, Boys, Friends and Cliques.

“The world is extremely interesting to a joyful soul.” ~Alexandra Stoddard

This quote makes even more sense when you also read: “It takes over 200,000 frowns to make a permanent wrinkle in your forehead.” The quotes by girls and women are also sprinkled throughout the pages and include wise words by Alanis Morissette, Helen Fielding, Constance Noring, Julia Child, Kate Winslet, Mother Teresa, Oprah Winfrey, Winona Ryder, Anne Frank and Jessica Alba.

Women of all ages will enjoy this book and find it humorous, creative, insightful, informative and intellectually adventurous. This is the book you would have loved to read in your childhood treehouse! The cover also makes this book more secretive when you reverse it so it says: “Composition.” Without the cover, the front cover is imprinted with: “Chemistry.”

~The Rebecca Review

Plugs into a normal outlet.
Very convenient if you use it at the house. ‘
Not convenient if you use it in the middle of nowhere or need to plug it into the car. ‘

Filled a single layer queen air mattress in 3 minutes.

Deflated a single layer queen air mattress in 3 minutes.

Is it loud? Is it an air pump powered by a small motor? Come one people.
It is not going to wake up your neighbors.
It didn’t wake up my 7 month old 3 down the hallway
My 2 year old didn’t run away holding his ears.
It is about as loud as a normal vacuum.

Let me say this. The price on Amazon is insane. A comparable Coleman plug in 120v quick pump at Target was 25 bucks.
You can buy this one and the DC or the 4 D cell one if you want for about the same price.

The only con I see with this product is that it has two attachment nozzles and it would be nice if it had a storage compartment so you don’t lose them. The 25 dollar pump at target did. But I will just keep them in the box with the pump… problem solved. Not e big enough con to bring it down from 5 stars.
Ideal for most of your household pumping needs

I got this pump for the purpose of inflating a double-hight queen size air mattress. For the mattress of that size you really need an electric pump, because your lungs or even a decent mechanical pump will take way too long. This electric pump does a great job of inflating a mattress of that size very quickly and thoroughly. In my estimation it does not take longer than a couple of minutes max for the job to get done. The pump is also great for several other around-the-house inflatable objects, such as beach balls and small size inflatable pools. It will probably work well with a larger size pool as well, but I have not tried it out with those so I don’t feel completely qualified to comment. On the other hand this pump is not suited well for pumping your bicycle or car tires – it lack both the requisite adapter as well as the the adequate pressure. For those jobs an air-compressor pump is much better suited. Furthermore, sine it relies on electric outlet for power this pump is not suitable for outdoor and camping use. This pump is also very competitively priced, but the price does not indicate low quality. On the contrary, the pump is very well made and will probably last a lifetime.

Just as described

The product works as well as described. Although a bit loud, it inflates an air mattress quickly. Easy to use.

Fast and not too loud

After reading earlier reviews, I was a little worried that this would be the loudest pump in the universe, but the price was right so I bought it anyhow. It turns out that it’s no louder than a really vigorous hair dryer. I’ve heard much louder pumps. It works really well, actually. It pumps up my queen-sized air mattress in less than a minute. This pump is a champion.

Coleman quick pump

Super easy to use and fills an airbed really fast. Compact and easy to store, quiet also.

If you want to blow up low pressure items (toys, beach balls, mattresses, small pools, etc.), this pump works great and VERY fast. It can also be used to deflate these items quickly and completely. However, if you want to pump up bike or car tires or hard balls like basketballs or footballs, look elsewhere. It doesn’t have the oompf or the adapter to do those things. Why the previous reviewer thought it worked on bike tires, I can’t imagine, since you can see from the picture that it doesn’t come with the appropriate adapter. Plus, it is really just a fan, not a compressor. If you need portability, buy the 12V rechargeable one. This one needs 120 VAC current.

Air pump

Great at filling all kinds of inflatables and works very quickly. The only problem is that it is VERY loud.

Coleman Electric Quick Pump

This is the perfect pump to buy with the Coleman Quickbeds. The electric pump, as opposed to the 4D pump that comes with the Coleman air mattresses, does the job quickly and thoroughly.

Great pump!

This pump works great. It was able to inflate a twin size air mattress in less than a minute. Would highly recommend.

Works Great

We have a lot of sleep overs at this house and we needed something that would inflate our mattress. This pump works really fast and we are very pleased with the purchase. It is loud but inflates very quickly.

It really works!

It pumped the beds in about 1 minute each. A little louder than I thought, but pumps so fast it doesn’t matter!

Packs a punch!

Works really well. Powerful; filled up my air mattress (coleman 4-1 quick bed) in seconds. Very pleased. I have yet to use the added attachments to blow up other items (pool stuff etc.) but I imagine with the power this little guy has it should work very well.

I live in eastern North Carolina where the temperatures are already topping the mid 90′s with high humidity (heat index today is going to be over 100 degrees!). I bought this pool for me (no kids!) and it is just perfect. Easy to inflate and fill, it is the ideal solution for cooling off on a hot day. I bought a 4x8ft piece of 3/4 inch foam core (insulation) at the local home improvement store to put under the pool to protect it and make it comfy to sit on. It’s like my own little retreat for $[...]!

Draining
Agree that it would be nice to have a drain plug, but I just reuse the water in my garden – fill watering cans a few dozen times and presto the plants are happy and the pool is empty enough to tip and empty to clean.

Repairing
I did get a small punture thanks to my cat, and sadly, there was no repair kit in my box, but was able to find a solution.

Covering
Biggest woe is covering it. Didn’t want to buy the covers online because of the low ratings. Tried a tarp, but it just filled with water when it rained which was a pain. A king fitted sheet works…kind of (California king would be ideal). It’s not easy to get on, but it does help keep the debris out while letting the water through if it rains.
Step on the side, people. Deflate a little to make it easier.
What is the obsession with a drain plug? Step on the side to let enough water out so you can then flip the thing over. Letting some air out first will help. Presto — drained.
Water Fun
I’m a single mom and have a hard time trying to get my son out of the door. A trip to the community pool takes about five hours and three of those five hours is just getting him ready, prying him from his toys and dragging him there. I purchased this pool to have the pool come to us. It is huge and about the same size as the community kiddie pool. All I have to do is put his trunks on and we are ready for the pool!.My son loves this pool! It is deep enough for him to get the feel of swimming but not too deep for him to feel afraid. This pool is durable and well made.
No Drain Plug – Syphon the Water Out Instead
The biggest concern from most reviewers is the lack of a drain plug. You can easily syphon the water out instead by using about four feet of garden hose. Even if the pool had a drain plug it would be difficult to drain the pool with just the drain plug. At the bottom of this review I am including some basic directions for syphoning.

We purchased one of these at the beginning of summer, and the pool has made it through the summer while withstanding a lot of abuse from our children and their friends. We have a swing set, and we located this under the slide. It is a lot of fun for the kids to slide into the pool. When not sliding into the pool, four or five children can play in it with room to spare. The instructions say not to fill the pool all the way up to the top, but we routinely fill it near the top and this has not caused a problem.

The easiest way to fill the pool up with air is to use the exhaust of a wet/dry vacuum. The ports for filling this with air are sized to fit a hose from a vacuum. Do not buy this unless you have something like a wet/dry vacuum to help you fill it with air.

To syphon water from the pool, submerge a four foot section of garden hose so that it is filled with water. Put your thumb tightly over the end that you will discharge from. Initially, keep the end in the pool as high in the water as possible and the side with your thumb as low as possible. Release your thumb and water should start draining out. Once water starts flowing, position one end to sit at the bottom of the pool and the other end on the ground next to the pool. It is best to syphon from the low spot. To empty all the water takes about an hour.
Glad I took the chance and trusted the positive reviews
There were so mixed reviews I was not sure if this would be a good purchase or not. It arrived yesterday and I inflated it with an electric compressor, it took about 40 min. This morning at 5 a.m. I started filling it with water and it took until 6:30 a.m. to fill to the line. I have a smaller size hose so that accounts for it taking longer. I am happy with the quality of the pool it feels like it will hold up, not flimsy. It does have a drain in the bottom.

I called a local pool store and they told me to add 1/8 to 1/4 cup chlorine bleach daily to keep the pool sanitary that I can use it about 5 days then drain and refill. I am glad to hear this, I know standing water that humans have been in breeds bacteria if not treated.

The pool looks really cool too the way they did the clear and the bright green inside. I am using it as an adult to do exercise in. It is deep enough to do leg kicks and move around. I have been sick for 7weeks so this is a good way to ease back into exercise and getting my strength back. It is also just plain fun.

I feel if it lasts one summer I got my moneys worth. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to cool off.
Grandpa’s Daycare activity
Great size pool to keep my 4 grandkids (ages 3-7)occupied for the summer. This is a my third pool of the same model from the same manufacturer (one lasted a summer, the second one 2 summers). It is a good size for several kids and an occasional hot Grandpa. Some of the previous complaints (too big to inflate, no drain, no filter)have some merit. Fortunately,I’ve got an air compressor that inflates both air chambers in about 10 minutes and a small pump that I hook up to a sprinkler that drains the water once a week. I use a hand held pool skimmer to clean the grass and leaves out every morning. I daycare the kids every weekday and they are in and out of this pool 2 or 3 times every day. I keep the pool on a old 6X9 area rug on the corner of my concrete patio and get a summer’s worth of fun for the kids which is well worth the approx. $40 price. And by the way, this year’s model I received has a drain plug in the bottom. I don’t think I’ll use it ’cause my current system works fine for me and the added plug may cause more problems than it’s worth.
This pool is great! No drain plug needed
These reviews are cracking me up about not having a drain plug! The drain plug is just one more point of potential failure. There are two ways to drain this pool:

1) Let some air out and press down on one side. You can do this and have the pool drained in less than 5 minutes (assuming you have the drains or other means to handle this flood of water coming out of the pool into your yard).

2) Use a hose and syphon the water out. This takes a couple hours to drain the pool but you can set it up and walk away from it. I do this often when not in a hurry and just let it drain through the night. The nice thing here is you can move the hose around and direct the water to a particular area, water some roses, etc.. To do this, connect a long hose to the hose bib on your house, the other end in the pool. Turn on the water until water starts entering the pool, disconnect the hose at the bib and move it to a location lower than the pool. Wait a few seconds and let gravity do the rest. Pretty simple!

These pools are great and my kids have a lot of fun with them.

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