Day 3 UPDATE:

Looks like my optimistic schedule is officially derailed. No sand today. Heck, we haven't even opened the boxes or pre-assembled the center towers yet. What's worse is that I took a vacation day today to get everything in good shape. Looks like I'll take a couple evenings digging and preassembling towers, then this weekend

Long day digging (1:30PM-10PM=8.5hrs, 4+ with DW). We have over 3/4 of the pool area leveled by hand. So far it is really level (within 1/4 inch everywhere I check). The hardpan was really tough going in several spots. We didn't dig too deep with the excavator so we'd have a solid bottom. Good news is it's solid. Bad news is we manually dug out 2-6" of rocky packed soil from several locations. Tough going, but funny enough I found it very rewarding. I think we hauled out about 3 yards of dirt by wheelbarrel (I lost count after about 12 heavily loaded wheelbarrel

My dear wife thinks I'm crazy, but she is patient and willing to help out still. We even got the kids to help dig. I'll try to post that picture sometime (and keep it forever as proof that our kids did help out).

Turns out we dug down 14" at far side of our dig site.

QUESTION: What's the best way to finish the walls that will be 8" to 14" below ground level we have dug out?
Our wall will be 14" below ground level at one side and ~8" down for most the rest of the area. We'll have about 2-6" between wall and the dirt, so I either need to excavate more (which isn't good right next to our existing deck about 18" away) or I need to protect the pool wall from corrosion that would be caused by dirt backfilled right up against the pool wall (after water filled of course).

My current idea is to line the space between outside wall and dirt with weed barrier, then fill the insert with pea gravel to ensure moisture isn't locked against the exterior wall all the time. This will make fine drainage AND it is removable if I find out that this is not a good option. I've read somewhere that applying tar to the wall exterior is good for preventing moisture damage, but I'm not sure what kind or if this really is a good idea.

Oh yeah, did I mention that it was raining yesterday morning and this morning? I've been tarping over half the pool and keeping a 10x10 canopy over the other half. So far that has left the soil workable with only minor mud situations (mainly between pool and the dumping site). Now we just need to figure out what to do with all this extra fill dirt... after the pool is constructed. Focusing on the pool. Must construct pool...

Wups, DW just fell asleep next to me (we just finished watching "Good Eats" popcorn episode on Food Network). I should probably get some sleep too. I'm near performance reviews at work. As long as my fingers are still working tomorrow I should be OK. Most the rest of my body aches but that's fine with me .