re: What are good but not too expensive family travel ideas?

You’re all over the place so I’ll start from the beginning. Start the passport process now.

Next, identify which airport you fly out of and monitor flights going anywhere cheap. Sounds like price is more important than destination, so let the price determine the destination.

Hopper app and google flights are good resources. If you have a rather larger airport, there are other services that will send you alerts when airlines have specials.