So my wife is thinking that the kids need a larger inflatable waterpark for their birthday in the spring. I'll attach a photo so you can get a visual on what an inflatable waterpark is.

I'm thinking of building a elevated pea gravel bed with drainage in the gravel bed so that we can set up the inflatable waterpark in an area that will not create a mud hole and the drainage will be used to water the yard. I'm thinking of sloping it just a little bit so that the water runs towards the main yard and then put a French drain system to get the water out of the gravel bed and distributed out through the yard via subsurface drip irrigation.

Would pea gravel be entirely too hot on my kids feet? Sand might be better, but it would not allow the water to drain efficiently. Open to ideas and feedback. I despise creating a massive mud hole in one part of the yard that's green for the next month….

Pea gravel would be exactly what you need to use there. The splashing should keep it coolish, and unless you get dark black/gray gravel, it won't heat up that much.

I think you are overthinking it. If you put pea gravel down I would then recommend putting a tarp to protect the inflatable down. A perforated pipe would collect the water but no drip irrigation would work off the water. First there is no pressure to make it work. 2nd the water would have some dirt or would not be clean and would clog and drip irrigation you tried to put in.
I guess you are wanting to leave the thing out there all summer and just plug it in each day. My suggestion if you have room is to move it around the yard each day. Maybe get a couple of those rubber floor mats like in kitchens with holes to help with the mud where kids get in and out.

Gentry. I use this for our horse barn. It holds the gravel and allows for drainage.
https://vodaland-usa.com/products/farm-grid-mud-control-system

A friend of mine bought a large water slide deal for his kids. He bought these to put down in his yard to keep from making a mud hole. It allows the water to drain through. He has not said anything about it making his kids feet hot.
https://mats-inc.com/comfort-grid-horse-stall-mat.html

Unless you have something containing the water in the gravel, the French drain isn't going to catch a ton of water. You'll just have a green ring around a pile of pea gravel.

These seems like a ton of money and work for one weekend, unless you were already going to be buying that stuff for another project.

Those mats are a good idea to deter the mud hole. There will still be an isolated green patch.



Of course my standard for lawn care is admittedly low. Any green is good in my book.

Do what I do when my kids have the inflatable aired up. Get you a 2-3 gallon bucket and get to bailing when the water gets high. You can toss a bucket of water at the kids when they run around the yard, direct a bucket full at the dry spot in the yard, etc. It's a workout but ends up being fun and you burn some calories in the process.

This is great advice. If it was just me and the kids outside, this would be ideal.

But me and momma (more like momma) want a sitting pool attached to the bouncy house for the childrens…I don't think she would appreciate many buckets being splashed at/on her.

the kids might play on that for a total of two hours at any give time....buy a large tarp or a few that goes underneath everything...adjust the outer edges of the tarp to have the water drain in different spots of the yard while they are playing. You might only need to adjust a few times in a play session. Gives the beer drinkers something to do.

You'd be surprised. I spent most weekends of last summer draining and then literally rolling back and forth over the stupid thing to get the air out…and then put it up. This summer we tried the above ground pool thing but that was boring for the kids so we went right back to the bouncy house/water park.

I'd love to have a designated area to set this thing up and not worry about killing grass, creating a mud pit, and awkward green spots in the yard.

Note this this thing serves as a dry bouncy house and the water is only optional - so it gets used 4-5 months a year, if not more.

Break
Out
Another
Thousand

Also been there done that, just with a bass boat. Inherited for free. Best thing I ever did was sell it

Ahh, I misread your original post. I thought you meant you were getting them one for their birthday party. This is a semi permanent deal for the warm months. Yes, you might be on to something here with the pea gravel. And then maybe it's just a bouncy house in the cold months.

The thing that drives me crazy about these water parks is you can hardly ever put them away because they rarely dry completely out.

It's crazy how much the kids will play on these things. It's definitely not worth trying to actually pack it up everyday.

Already thought of that too hahaha

Bought it last week. Works great!!

https://www.harborfreight.com/20120v-lithium-ion-dual-power-cordless-transfer-pump-tool-only-56733.html

artificial turf a section with a drainage layer underneath?

Yes this!!

I was also going to mention that you will want some kind of liner in the bottom so that when the kids tire of it in 3-4 years you can dig it out and get rid of the pea gravel.

We couldn't even afford that. We used old air mattresses that had leaks and laid them flat and overlapped them. Then we had a sprinkler squirting water on them to make them slick. Worked for us. It was that and play in the sprinkler and have squirt gun wars!

HTownAg98 said:

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Hell, I had a Slip 'n Slide, and thought I was living the high life.

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We had a fun fountain at one point. Basically a big plastic clown head that you screwed the water hose into and it shot a geyser up about 15 feet in the air you ran and jumped through.

But mostly we just had water hoses.

We were poor.

You give my "lawn" too much credit. No sprinklers and fertilizer here. Heck, I even battle mesquite trees sprouting up in my yard!

pick up all your sticks and rocks

mow whatever grass you have

put up the bouncy castle / slide and let it rip

these things are great for wasting water and getting your yard watered nicely.

now if you dont have a nice yard, then it may be cheaper to plant a few pallets of grass ahead of time, let it grow a few weeks, when the party is over at least your junky yard may start looking like a yard... lol