How do you calm your hyper toddler?

We went to dinner tonight at the ILs, and when we got home it was past the girls' bedtime and they were completely wound up. They were in quite a good mood, but just running around playing and refusing to sit still. I never know what to do in that circumstance except go into the regular bedtime routine, but sometimes we get to the end of it and they're still hyper and it takes them forever to fall asleep. Do you have any special techniques for calming them down when they're totally wired?

 

My girls will do thar when they are over tired too. I very rarely, if ever, stray from normal routine. I like a certain order to things, so do they I guess. My sister is good at helping them through that time, she just lets them run & tickles them for a while until they are tired, then sits/lays with them quietly. (You can borrow her sometime if you want!) Sisters are great!

 

When we have dinner at my parents' house, we go through the bedtime routine over there, only it ends with getting in the car instead of straight to bed. It's only a 20 min drive, and we listen to Baby Einstein music on the way home. We do bath (if it's bath night, I do every other night), pajamas, cup of milk, watch a little calming DVD, and then they say goodnight to Oma and PopPop, and then it's in the car. When we get home, we put them in bed.
I do have nights though when it seems like they are really hyper before bed. I try to channel the energy into cleaning up their toys, making sure they know that it is still bedtime. Bea especially has been staying up some evenings like 30-45 min in her crib, singing, talking, shaking the crib, but I don't hear anything out of Ainsley. So for now, I'm keeping bedtime the same. She's not upset, so I figure she must need a little more time to wind down.
Anyway, I try to just stick to the routine, keep things quiet, etc.

 

Mine will be 2yo in five days. It may sound silly, but I feed them when they are like that.
Usually mandarian orange slices, or fruit bars or something healthy.
1st- Feeding them means they must sit in boosters which means they are confined and that has a calming effect.
2nd-The are filling their tummies (warm milk helps) which may help with sleepyness.
3rd-I read to them while they are eating, and that is calming too.
It works for us.
Good Luck, I know it is a hair-pulling thing to have two overtired and feeding off each others overdrive.