I work at TimberTech Decking and we have some great tools that might help if you are looking to go the deck route. Check out our Deck Designer online http://timbertech.com/idea-starters/deck-designer/default.aspx. If you have other questions about low-maintence decking - check out Straight Talk. You can ask your candid decking questions and get honest answers from the experts at TimberTech. Here is a link that might be useful: Straight Talk Forum

You are off to a great start because you have shown up with probably the most useful design tool that it's possible to have ... the BASE PLAN! And beautifully drawn to scale!!!! In spite of its awesomeness, I'm wondering if, on a copy of it, you wouldn't make a few changes to it that makes it even more useful in forumland ... Remove the tree symbols and replace them with plain black dots that approximate the actual size of the trunk diameters (which will be our clue to their size.) Keep their names but don't draw any canopies. Since we don't yet know what's yet to come, the tree canopies are a little distracting and could end up being in way of brainstorming. Remove the color shading from the patio. Remove only those dimensions that are shown inside the fence (which will also potentially get in the way) and replace them with two plain, black ten-foot lines drawn inside the house or outside of the fence. Make one line horizontal and one line vertical and label them: 10'. Leave the dimensions that are inside the house or outside the fence. Are there any buildings, such as your's or a neighbor's garage or outbuilding that occur nearby to your fence? If yes, then add their outline to the plan. If neighboring houses are very close, you might even want to show their outline on the plan, because screening them from view or for your privacy will probably be something you'll want to do. Then, figure out your needs and desires. Since a main amenity is the patio, consider how many people you want it to serve, its functions for them, and if you might need to expand it. It'll probably need a place for a grill, table & chairs, side lounge chairs, etc. After figuring out what the necessary things are, draw out an overhead view of them to the same scale, print them out on paper, and you can toy with various arrangement configurations in order to see what works best. Share the drawn out furniture here, too. (It can be crude.) You'll likely want a permanent walk to/from the patio to the garage or outer yard. Ponder what other major features you'd likely want to incorporate. Fire pit? Pool? Recreational features? Screening to block view or provide privacy? Vegetable garden? This is the time to figure out what you want, both near term and far. Even if it's something that won't be installed for 10 years, you'll want to reserve the space for it. Bring the things you're contemplating back here and let's see what kind of shape we can get it into.

"We know our first priority is probably redoing our back deck but we are unsure if we should keep the same shape." You're there using it and we're not. What are the shape/size dissatisfactions with the deck that you've acquired? At least it looks finished so I don't know if I'd make it the first project. IMO, what makes your yard seem lacking is the lack of landscaping. There's no "foundation" planting around the house. and the yard perimeter planting seems incomplete. The trees are nice but it would look a lot nicer to have a "lawn" of groundcover below them, as opposed to a sparse, dying turf area. Turf is only going to do well where there is adequate light. At minimum, it should be solid, weed-free mulch. But eventually, you'll want groundcover so you don't need to be replenishing mulch on a periodic basis.

Hmm not a kid friendly back yard for sure. Running a jack hammer is really not all that impossible and given your concrete is chunked with all the lines I see you could easily start near the grass and see how much you want to break up /remove. You are lucky you will have defined places to stop with no weird chopped edges given the blocking I see. What do you want for your child? I see all these super expensive play sets--and given the lifestyles of most families very little time at home to play on it is available. Back in the day we got away with a LARGE sand box, a swing under a raised deck (sand box was under the deck) and a Little Tyke's large climbing/slide apparatus. The wait a year and see is tough as kids grow fast and they need what they need NOW. If we are talking toddler #1 right now I would be hitting the garage sales and buying every riding toy I could find. We had a fleet of those things and quite a race way in our unfinished basement!! All that cement is premium rolling space. A kiddie pool will fit in one of your grassed areas...optimize what you have!!