Congrats in the property. Stating your location will help tremendously. Wherever you are you can’t go wrong with plants native to the area

Kansas sorry I must have forgot to mention that

Two random thoughts: is there a fenced yard to contain the kids(little kids) or do they have free range (bigger kids) and do you have home orchard experience?

Consider planting a wind break of some kind. Fruit trees? Peaches? Apples? Kids love these!

Check out Clark’s post at the link he is in kansas lots of good info there. consider Low maintenance fruit that doesn’t need spraying

Well houzz deleted the link search for growing fruit .org forum for his info

Fruit trees are not really "windbreak" trees. Fruit trees need breaks from the winds. I'm sure you can get all kinds of info on home fruit growing from your local cooperative extension. Exposure to sun and wind are critical for most fruit trees so siting them properly is paramount to start.

Basically think of your property as zones. Farther out for things that need the least maintenance and care, so more natural plantings, and then closer to the house for your water features, etc. I'd start perusing "Mother Earth News" and some of the other homesteading web sites and periodicals. Check out the local library, I'm sure they have tons of stuff on small homesteading. I highly recommend you order the book "Gaia's Garden" and other books on permaculture through interlibrary loan. They describe how you can design planting schemes that are low maintenance and productive for food. There are actually tons of books and articles on permaculture design. You might want to look into them since in KS one of your primary considerations is limited moisture and tough weather with winds and storms and cold winters. The idea behind permaculture is to build resilience into your landscaping/plantings through a variety of techniques.https://www.amazon.com/Gaias-Garden-Guide-Home-Scale-Permaculture/dp/1603580298/ref=asc_df_1603580298/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312128022127&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5510128314807912983&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017298&hvtargid=pla-457208463994&psc=1

Edited to add that the typical permaculture plan is designed around fruit or nut trees, which are located the greatest distance from the house, and underplanted with plants that thrive under trees and facilitate the health of the tree. These islands are called guilds. Plants that need more tending are located closer to the house. So you design from a treed perimeter inwards. In your case, the wilder areas might be havens for predators, pollinators and windbreaks. (like hawks and owls to go after rodents and foxes to go after bunnies, bats and birds to eat insects, predatory wasps, etc.) The other emphasis would be on plants that are either native or bred specifically to thrive under the growing conditions of KS. You might have to dig, but there is probably a small nursery somewhere in your state catering to this kind of customer. The native plant society often has a directory of participating nurseries. There are also some good mail order tree nurseries, some not too far from you . . . One of the great permaculture researchers and thinkers is Wes Jackson who founded an institute in KS. https://landinstitute.org/

Michael, if you don't dialogue about the responses you've been given, usually the threads languish & die without being any great help.

I started a home orchard 10 years ago and learned a lot along the way:

Fruit trees are great but a LOT of maintenance for pruning. They require a lot of water when young but do not like "wet feet" so a well drained area is important.

Deer can be very hard on young fruit trees but deer repellent products are effective IF used consistently.

After you determine the area for the trees get a soil sample analysis and do remediation as needed. My trees in well drained slightly sandy soil needed a twice annual shot of urea even tho the soil analysis didn't show any deficiencies.

Start the trees early in your masterplan as they take a while to produce, typically at least 3 years and often longer.

I found it was important to buy my bare root trees from a nursery in my same zone. 50 cherry trees that were designated Zone 4 by a nursery in Washington state all died in their 2nd MN winter. No such problem from trees sourced in neighboring WI. (Big box store trees suck. Most don't even specify the rootstock which is a critically important variable.)

Many excellent apple varieties for the home grower are available that you'll never see in a supermarket because they lack the attributes important for commercially grown fruit.

Hope this was helpful. Good luck.

Hi Michael - Congratulations. Where's your property located?