2 years outside USA without travel docs

[gswil]

We, my wife, daughter and I had Green Cards since 2007 and had lived in the US for over 12 years. We also have a 13 year old son who is a U.S. citizen.
2 years ago we made the decision to return to Australia our home country due to several reasons. My father in law was diagnosed with cancer and due to the global pandemic we were unsure when and if we would get back to provide our support to the families. Also due to the global situation there were other factors and uncertainties due to employment that caused us to make the decision pick up our lives and return. In hindsight I think we panicked a little and nobody at that time really knew when the pandemic would end.
Now we are faced with the reality that we should not have moved back and probably worked out something else at the time to visit. We did look at getting re entry permits however there was long wait times and we needed to leave.
My question is, is there a way to retain our Green Cards at this point or have we abandoned them due to being abroad for more than one year?
I have done some research on this with several possibilities to return.
SB-1 VISA Returning Resident VISA, however it states that GC holders have been outside the US for more that 1 Year beyond their control, this is somewhat true, but we did have a choice at the time to stay.
The second option is to get a flight to the US and deal with the interrogation of a CBP officer on why we were out of the country for so long.
Both these options have a certain level of risk and no guarantee that we can enter the US and retain our GC.
The last option is the start the Green Card process all over again. If we do this should we first start the process of I-407 Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident to be able to re apply. At this stage we have not completed any information to legally Abandon or Green Cards.
Any information or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[newacct]

Long wait times for Re-entry Permit shouldn't have mattered because you don't need to be in the US while it is pending. You just need to be in the US when the application is filed and when doing biometrics.

In my opinion you have a greater chance of success by flying to the US and trying to enter with the immigration officer at entry (and if denied, refusing to sign I-407 and getting a hearing with the immigration judge in removal proceedings) than with the SB-1 visa.

What basis do you have for getting green cards again if you wanted to do that?

[Mike E]

The second option is to get a flight to the US and deal with the interrogation of a CBP officer on why we were out of the country for so long.

This is the best option.

Legally you cannot be denied entry.