Hi,
I tried what you wanted to do on my iPad 2 running IOS 5, and it works perfectly...
All I did was drag each app into the bottom bar, moved them. The last 2 apps I moved them each to the bar, so the screen was empty, them moved Back to page 2 where I took them out. Clicked home, then here it was. Let us know if you still battle.
Regards,
Chays