Thanks, everybody, for the replies! We live in central SC where it gets VERY hot in summer. Jim and crabboy, I bet you both can relate given where you live. :-D I'd like to keep the direct sun off the kids (and me) as much as possible so we thought the umbrella sleeve in the tanning ledge would be a good idea. I'm glad to hear that you, crabboy, and you, Jim, like yours. Do either of you have SWG pools? That's what we're going with and I'm just wondering if we can get away with an aluminum pole.