I had the same problem. I sold my 97 Ext. Cab last year to get a Seinna for the wife(05 LE FWD which gets 25mpg on the highway loaded). So I got stuck driving our 05 Vibe for a year which gave me a chance to contemplate my next move.
I sat in everything I was remotely interested in if it was in my price range or not. The conclusion I came to is if you have decent size kids (My soon to be 4 yr old boy is 4.5ft and 55lb) they are going to out grow the back seat of a midsize full 4 dr truck before its paid off. I can't sit in a Tacoma Dbl cab back seat comfortably. At 6ft even my head is on the rear ceiling. Though I did find some used examples for 12-15000 in DC Long bed 4x4s. I looked at v-6 4x4 00-04 Tundras which people want a mint for but they are just as bad in terms of rear seat room as the T-100 the cab interior dimensions are scary close. Within a couple inches in every dimension. So being that I won't own a Chevy, or a Dodge that isn't running a Cummins with a 6spd. I looked at Ford who I like but to get one with the newer engines that have power and fuel economy I would have to shell out 20k+.

So I ended up with this



A 2005 Dbl Cab limited plenty of room in the back even with car seats. I could even ride in back if I had to. The only truck I sat in that was noticeably better was a newer crewmax but I didn't want to shell out the $$ for one or take the fuel economy hit. my first tank of semi city driving netted 16mpg and highway loaded it got 18-19mpg.
The best part is that with 116k on it I only paid 12,800.