WWYD? The Saga of the Family Tuna

[PomBearAtTheGatesOfDawn]

Bit longwinded but anyone who bears with me can have and
DD has a toy caterpillar named Sydney Tuna, she liberated him from a car boot sale when she was just gone 2 and has adored and worshipped him ever since.
Last Christmas Santa brought his mummy, Mrs. Mabel Tuna, to live with us. She had missed Sydney since he went to seek his fortune, so had written to Santa to ask him to find Sydney, and Santa gave her a lift to our house on his sleigh. Cue rejoicing and carolling and so on....
DD now informs me that this Christmas, Mrs T and Sydney are writing jointly to Santa to find Mr. Tuna, who rejoices in the name Miguel apparently, and is in the army, fighting for the peaceloving resistance caterpillars who want to stop the slaughter between the marmite and the maple syrup factions I kid you not AND I kept a straight face wile DD told me all this
So... and if you're still with me, a thousand thanks... I can lay my hands on a caterpillar identical to Mrs. Tuna, but how can I make him look like he's been liberated from the army/prisoner of war camp/somewhere else suitable to have kept him away for a long time? I thought about him having been kidnapped by Pirates to explain where he's been all these years, and that was when DD came out with the stuff about the army... any suggestions? DD is 9 and I think this could be the last year for Santa for her, we've had some pointed questions that I have so far lied my way out of managed by the skin of my teeth, so I want to do Mr. Tuna's homecoming right...

No!!! It's nice that Miguel wanted to being you and your DH a gift. After all you have housed his wife and son whilst he's been gallivanting imprisoned

DH loves you apparently! I may look into it if DH is paying

I recommend tying a bottle to each leg

I'm afraid I don't have any useful information to add, but , speaking as a Playmobil citizen, I think it all sounds wonderful!

D'you know what?
I think this has been one of the most joyous and lovely threads I've ever read on here
I love it!
I was going to suggest a patch to match the beret PomBears but I see you have it covered.
Will he have ration packs?

I think it is the least Miguel would want to do for his son's foster family. A case, appropriately labelled, would be a lovely gesture on his part as long as DH pays

You can buy maple syrup quite easily you know!

I think it's important to make dh pay feel included, how is Miguel going to arrive on Christmas morning!

If he's machine washable.... why don't you dye him a manly colour?? in the washing machine?

I think your DD is very sweet :)

We found maple syrup in Aldi of all places today, so I am thinking that he might bring both syrup and marmite to show how he has been working tirelessly to bring peace to both sides in this long long war...
He's lots of different colours rainbow, and is plush, and looks more manly than Mrs. T somehow so that bit should work out OK I hope. He has one pair of pink legs which will be the ones to be amputated/scarred/wooden I think, depending on what I end up doing with them.
Santa is going to drop him off - Santa doesn't wrap the presents in our house he saw a crying baby polar bear about two years ago and was reminded about how many trees wrapping paper KILLS so he stopped using it and just leaves the gifts in one of those big giftbags for each person. Miguel will be strategically positioned beside DDs bag, with a note from Santa telling the exciting story of the gallant rescue - After receiving the letter from Mabel and Sydney, Santa went in search of Miguel and found him, halfway through an escape tunnel, pursued by Baddies. By swooping down low in the sleigh, Mr T. was able to grab hold of the runner with his remaining 18 legs and cling on tightly all the way to our house where he will remain in comfort for the rest of his life... or that's the plan so far anyway - these things have a habit of getting away from me and taking on a life of their own
I toyed with having him in a parachute, dangling from a bush or the garage roof or something, but the logistics were a bit much, and if it was bad weather or someone went past and stole him it would be too awful so Santa is going to bring him I think.

I think I love you too a bit pombear and wish you were my mum

I'll make you a parachute if you like? PM me your address
I think he should be half out of the fire place/however Santa usually gets to you though

Aww that's very kind of you purple - we usually have one of those "Magic keys" to hang outside so that Santa can open the door - our fire is Broken and Not To Be Touched and so on so we don't do the chimney thing. I think the parachute was me getting a lot bit carried away though.

Nooooooooooo tha parachute is an awesome idea!! Perhaps Miguel could become entangled with the keys when Santa opens the door but, because he hasn't used his voice for so long due to being in The Cooler, he can't shout loud enough for Santa to hear him?

ooo do you think so? wants a parachute desperately but is afraid of biting off more than can chew

He could always be in the process of packing up his parachute having - um - parachuted down from the sledge (after all, it would be tricky for Santa to land with Miguel clinging on to the runner) ?

OOOO stealth good thinking and why didn't I think of that? Miguel would be crushed by the sleigh if he was clinging on when Santa landed on the roof

Seriously, let me make the parachute. I'll do nice thick crochet strings so it's easy to attach, and iirc I've got a clip that I didn't need for a previous project, so I could make a little jacket to attach it to. Just send me measurements

I just went and PM-ed you purple

Sorry about saying I wanted you to be my mum last night pombear - I had had a leeetle bit too much

PLEASE will you post a pic of Miguel all kitted up when he's done?

ooooo measurements- I will have to measure surreptitiously when looks shify nobody is looking since Mr. T is currently in hiding at the back of the top of the wardrobe What will you need? his circumference and segment length? leg spacings? has no idea what's involved in caterpillar jackets but is willing to measure everything asap

Lol cristina I was wondering how old you were after that one purely because I myself am FAR too young to have big children, and am ignoring pfb's looming 21st as hard as I can
I will post pics of Miguel, and the whole family so everyone can share in the joyous reunion

I am 46 PomBear :o

in that case, you can be my mam, you're somewhat more mature than me... I will be Life, the Universe, and Everything on my next b/day