I have reached out to an immigration lawyer, from what I am reading on there website a "visitor visa" allows me to stay up to 6 months in the UK which is less than the time I need provided I can prove financial ability to come and go and support my family. That portion will not be an issue. I am waiting for them to call me to give me exact details. I will post what I find out.
They will look at this guidance, well hopefully they will, and then send you their bill.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visit-guidanceIn that guidance for immigration officers, there is this.
"Is the applicant a genuine visitor
.................
are you satisfied they will not be living in the UK or making the UK their home through frequent or successive visits"
There are lots of posts on other immigration sites where they get refused entry as they have a pattern of a few months in the UK, return home for a few months, then want to come back for another few months etc. They are not being a genuine visitor as they are making the UK their home through "frequent or successive visits".
You seem to want to make the UK your summer home and you cannot do that on a visitor visa. You may get away with it for a few times, but when they see the pattern, they will refuse you entry.
https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/denied-entry-to-the-uk/Remember too that apart from not having to grant you entry to the UK, that 6 months is only
up to 6 months. If they decide they will let you in, they don't have to stamp you in for 6 months; it might only be for one or two weeks if they think you are not genuine tourists.
If you want to be sure the UK will grant you entry, then you and all your family can apply for visitor visas before you travel. Although that visitor visa will be for 6 months, make sure you leave when you said you would in the application: stayiing longer than they said they would but still leaving before the 6 months visa ends, is another reason they are refused future visitor visas. It can also mean a ban for these if they don't have a very good reason why they did that, as they used deception on a visa application
The UK tightened up on the immgration rules for visitors the other year, to stop those who seek to abuse their visit/s.