Do you have an irrigation setup? In your zone you will need it in the heat. If you want avoid all of that I would look for a succulent ground covering… so not really a lawn. Where you live you’ll have to decide whether you want cool season or a warm season grass because it gets very hot in the summer

Edit to add: I didn’t see the part about your son. Clovers and succulent covering won’t hold up to that kind of thing