So, I live in Las Vegas, Zone 8b for the US. We've purchased a house which has a backyard that is literally just dirt. Like...dirt. I've got two kiddos who love being outside, and a doge that's the same. I really don't want to put in a lawn. It's the desert, why would you waste water on that. So I'm looking for any ideas that I've missed. Some things I've considered are:

• Astroturf/synthetic lawn - gets super hot in the sun, can be mitigated with sunshades, dog urine can stick around and smell
• Pea gravel - The fairly large grade stuff. Rocks aren't too bad, cost doesn't look too bad, minimal care needed and can plant things to highlight it. Rock garden type feel maybe. Can get hot in the sun, but again able to mitigate with trees/sunshades.
• Decomposed granite - Spendy, can get dug up by the kids/dog.
• Rubber mulch - Have heard that's just so many issues with it. Smell, healthiness of said mulch, color likes to bleed, gets hot in the sunlight
• Mulch - All the splinters. One child is autistic, and shoes can be an issue some days.

Are there any other options that folks can suggest? At this point I'm leaning towards going the pea gravel route with some raised beds to garden a bit in, and a tree or two to throw some shade across it.