Flashlight Nights at Desert Botanical Gardens are great family fun

• They've got a limited number of flashlights for visitors, but you can bring your own if you want to make sure you have one.

What to expect: As you walk through the garden, you'll visit multiple stations to learn about the local wildlife, especially the creepy, crawly stuff. One stop features a scorpion in a tank, where kids get a chance to shine a blacklight to see it glow.

• At the garden's Webster Center, you can see a Gila monster alongside other scaly critters, including a bearded dragon you can pet.
• The kids can make some arts and crafts (and the adults can shop for some) at the Dorrance Center, and they can use glow-in-the-dark chalk to make their mark on collective murals.
• They've also got live music and fire pits, where you can roast marshmallows for s'mores.

Zoom in (literally): There are telescopes you can use to scan the night sky, as long as you're there when it's dark enough.

My thought bubble: We took the kids last weekend, and they had a blast!

• My kids loved the s'mores and were enchanted by some of the animals. My 3-year-old was super excited to show me the Gila monster.
• At one station, we got to sample ground mesquite, which we learned tastes a lot like cocoa powder.
• We started early, when it was still pretty light out, since our 3-year-old and 5-year-old will last only so long. But if that's not a concern for you, I'd recommend starting later, when it's a bit darker, even though it'll also be a lot busier by then.