Musical Cribs

What is it about bed time that turns a peaceful, quiet, somewhat catatonic toddler into a crazy, just drank a gallon of coffee, no-way-in-heck I'm sleeping now toddler?!?! Recently we have had a few bed times that have been more energetic than the last 2 hours of play time! Of course, it doesn't help that the boys have learned a new skill...

NickAlex & Logan
Logan & Alex
A & L - Notice the "head first" approach

These are pictures I captured from our web cam. Usually the web cam is in the basement so grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles can watch the boys play (Nick is very good at remembering to say bye-bye to the camera each night before heading upstairs). Once the crib climbing started, I moved the camera into their room. Made for very interesting monitoring as they were constantly climbing from one bed to the other!

It all started one morning when we woke up and heard the bedroom door closing. If in their cribs, no one can reach the door to close it. Logan had learned how to climb out of his crib and was free in the room. He quickly modified this skill and got over into Nick's crib. Alex wasn't far behind and they were soon jumping into another crib faster than I could put the second kid down! Nick was the last to join the climbing crew but has now mastered it too. I think the main reason he had to learn was to avoid brothers falling onto him all the time. His crib is in the corner, between the other two, so they were constantly getting into his crib to get to the other.
Sometimes, we're lucky and they'll all sit and read quietly...
But usually... that's not the case! I finally baby-proofed the room except for the box fan on the floor (any suggestions on how to make this baby safe?). Of course, once that was done, no one has crawled out of bed since (knock on wood). Tonight they were so energized and crazy, I decided as long as they all end up in a crib and asleep, I don't care who is where. One baby per bed is nice, but not a necessity!

So, here's the question... what do I do next? Although it drives me crazy when I want them to sleep and they want to play/climb, part of me loves watching them have so much fun (cause they're having a blast!). I can separate the beds - with some major room reorganization. They don't seem to climb if the beds aren't next to each other (as was evident one nap time when I finally just pulled the beds into the middle of the room with a couple of feet in between). Or, I guess we could move to toddler beds... but if they aren't in cribs, will they just always roam the room and never sleep? Any suggestions?????

Speaking of caging kids... they broke the gate again. And this time, it's really broke. They didn't just pull it out of the wall, they broke the plastic bar that attaches to the hinges - ON BOTH ENDS! As frustrating as they have been lately, it is so awesome to see them do this stuff too. Another post with all that stuff is coming soon. Wouldn't trade this for anything!