Technology - an international mystery

We are accustomed to being connected - to the internet and to family and friends.  We cannot do without this connection for 8 weeks.  But, Italy is not the United States - you knew that.  :-)  So, we thought and researched and thought some more about what our technology set-up would be.  We wanted to have a way to connect to the internet, a way to take, store and post photos, a way to connect to family and friends, preferably through skype and we wanted to be able to entertain ourselves and our kids with music and/or videos.  So, what to do?  I tried, initially, to only search on apartments with wifi connections, but it proved too restrictive.  We could bring our iphones with us and use them sparingly, but even that proved too costly of an option.  I also worried what would happen if one of the kids got separated from us and even the kindest person might not be willing or able to make an international call to find us.

So, here's what we're bringing:

• Mifi - I will need to buy a rechargeable sim card for this once we arrive in Italy  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OE5N02/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00
• Unlocked quad band cell phones  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XRJELW/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00
• italian sim cards
• ipad - loaded with music and movies, can skype and email from here, too, connected to the above mifi or wifi when we have it
• ipod touch (Nate's)
• Camera
• These cool ipad connectors  http://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPad-Camera-Connection-MC531ZM/dp/B003K1EYM6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337693440&sr=8-1 which will allow us to download pictures from the camera to the ipad and upload to picasa

With all the necessary chargers and converters.  Fingers crossed that it all works like we hope and plan!