Well, we ended up getting a 2013 Yukon XL 2500. It got us what we wanted in terms of additional seating as well as additional towing capacity and payload. The main downside is a somewhat shorter wheelbase (130in) than a van, but probably not enough to make a big difference. The 16000 GCWR and 8600 GVWR (with a curb weight of 6414) gives us some wiggle room to find the right trailer while still having room for the kids and dogs. To be honest I'd prefer a little more wiggle room than that, but even with 1 ton vans (e.g. the Nissan NV3500 which we really liked) the GCWR seems to max out at 16000, which is where we're likely to run into our limit, so there's not much more we can do. (I've heard you can concert a semi truck sleeper cab into a seating for a big family but that's a little extreme for us.)
