How do I get back to "Adventurous"?

Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt," John Muir

How do I get back to "Adventurous"?  Before the "yard" part of my life, I traveled/backpacked in S. America for four months, traveled in Thailand for two weeks, hiked Colorado trails all the time, got in a couple 14ers, and definitely camped.  I took a one week camping trip to Maine & New Hampshire.  Several of my adventures were also by myself.  Not to mention forcing myself up Elitch's "drop" ride, TWICE!  I am so afraid of heights that I was crying by the time we dropped down to earth.   

I would say my definition of adventurous ended when I purchased a home with a yard.  With that yard came a lot more space for Aspen to roam around and all sorts of gardening & landscaping.  It was awesome!  I think I went on one backpack trip that year.  

It ended even more when I moved further away from work and was just worn out from that.  Then... Zachary was born.  I could barely get him fed healthy foods let alone venturing into the mountains.  We did get out on one adventure just outside of Estes Park for a two night camping trip.  It was so nice and Zachary loved it, even if he couldn't walk yet.

Now, we live in a place with a much larger yard with pasture land and we have kid number two.  We definitely don't eat healthy now.  Wow, even with working 3/4 time, I'm still scrambling to get out the door.  We did manage to go camping up to Chambers Lake, west of Fort Collins, with both kids.  Wyatt was two months old.  It was an adventure in patience and frustration.  We went home early because our campsite flooded and I couldn't handle much more of the crying and whining. 

So... again how do I get back to Adventurous, when I feel I can barely breathe?  And even more important, how do I make sure that my children go on paths in which I "make sure a few of them are dirt"?  What does that look like now?  How do I fit that back into our lives? 

Maybe my first baby step is remembering it hasn't disappeared, it just looks different.  Now I just need to figure out what it's new definition means.

Huh, Overall Project Manager, who would've thunk?

After being on  maternity leave and getting up to speed on new and old projects through an over abundance of meetings, I made it out to my bridge construction project.  Man was I grateful to be out there and it made me realize that when we're designing, I need to get out there even more!

This particular bridge project has made me cry, lose sleep, and bring joy like never expected.  I was even on the Denver's Fox31 evening news because of the eagles in the vicinity of this project.

All the work, frustration, anger, etc. made it all worth it when I was able to tell one of the workers, "I am THE overall project manager of this entire project."  Not in a million years did I expect to say something so neat and empowering.  I think I wowed the guy even more because I was a younger woman.  It was a liberating thought and am glad I got this far.  It's times like these that I need to remind myself, I am a good engineer and a good mom.  No need to ever doubt myself (course perfectionism runs in the blood too!)