Want to make it EASIER on yourself?
Notice i didn't say "easy", but there is a way to make this easier.
First off, your ground looks nowhere near what you want it to look like, you need it FLAT and LEVEL all around, then as stated above, SINK the patio blocks into it so the top surface of the block is flat and level with the ground.
If you're having a really hard time getting the ground flat, then get several yards of screenings aka crusher run aka the stuff that falls out of the crusher when they make 3/4" gravel. (you'll have to do the calculations here to see exactly how much you need). I would go with 2-3" of it (compacted with a gas tamper and water - 40 dollar rental) make sure it goes approximately 2 feet beyond every edge of the pool, sink your blocks into that and build everything on it, it will give you a great highly compacted base that won't wash out, and is really easy to get level.
All you have to do is rake it out as level as you can, tamp it down and now detail rake the high spots down some, once it's good, dig in the patio blocks, tamp everything once more after they are in place.