I bought a pretty nice Nautique when my kids were little for the same reasons.... If you like performance boats you will want to sell this soon enough, and the advice I'd give is if your dead set on getting one don't go big and get an expensive one. Well maintained these boats last forever but are boring as hell to drive, sort of hard to dock in tight slips/wind, do require maint., and while they can operate in fairly shallow water damage adds up quick when you push those limits or the river levels drop in unfamiliar areas. Unless I'm skiing a course I don't care what's pulling me, and while I could do many big grabs, slides, 360 etc. the reality is unless your a good, improving wakeboarder and/or it's your thing you don't need a high end wake boat (we've all seen the huge X's pulling some little kid at like 17 kts on a wakeboard going straight). IMO you can do all the same stuff in a 21-23' open bow shockwave/ultra/eliminator skier type boat, cruise faster, and if the kids turn into aggressive wakeboarders or competitive slalom skiers then the tournament boat is the call. Pontoons and cats 25' and over aren't the easiest to deal with either with just the wife and little ones as stated earlier plus until your kids get older you will have to clean the transom all by yourself which sucks. Good luck w your search , Just my .02 and trying to save you based on my own expense(loss)