Something like the Nikon D40 would suit you both, its right in your price range too

Plenty of scope for progression/upgrades as and when you feel the need, its a great entry level DSLR camera, good quality bit of kit which can produce good images without the high pricetag associated with DSLR kit. It can, like most DSLR camera's, be used in fully automatic aswell as manual and semi-automatic modes, so you can learn at your own pace too.

Here's a review of it http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/