I went the other direction. My first Ecoboost was a 2015 Explorer Sport, but I traded it for my 2015 SHO. The Explorer has the 3.16 gears that the SHO PP has, to make up for the extra weight. But the Explorer was never as quick as my SHO.
Coming from a 2007 F-150, I thought I still wanted/needed some of that extra space for its utility value. But I really didn't use it for that, and it turned out, I kind of missed driving a car. The Explorer was fun, but in a "truck," I didn't really feel connected to the road as much as a car. For a growing family, you may need the extra space, so take my comments for what they're worth.