Recommendations for 1st Digital Cam.

So, the little woman and I are in search of our first digital camera. I have read reviews, looked on the web, and gone to stores, but I can't seem to find the right camera. It would ideally be small enough to take anywhere, weather resistant, have good zoom and an ok pixel count. We would be taking active photos, and as she is the photo buff, not me, I have no clue as to what most of the techie info is. So, if anyone has any suggestions as to which camera would be ideal, pls. let me know.
Thanks!

im pretty sure the Olympus Stylus Digital is the only metal case water resistant digital camera made. I have the 300 and am very happy with it for snapshots.

from personal experiace get something that boots up fast and has as little lag as possible between pressing the button and the actuall picture takin.

however those two features seem to cost a lot.

I wanted more or less the same things you did. After researching, this is what I recently got, and I highly recommend it!

Olympus stylus

I also have a Casio Exilim (so tiny!) but I beat the snot out of it. After only 4 months of ownership, I have to have it fixed. Then again, I had it swinging from a clip off my ski jacket at Tahoe in March where it got regularly buried in the snow when I fell or sprayed w/ snow. It was also drenched in what can only be described as a monsoon in Puerto Rico 2 weeks ago. But the little guy hung on as long as he could. That Casio does take great pics, but needs a gentler owner than me.

Sprite

I got a Canon A60 a while back and have been happy with it so far. I'ts like 2 meg I think, pic quality is pretty good for a low priced (-$200) digi

Thanks guys, I think the stylus is the one for me. They have a deal on it for $299 at amazon.com. Thanks again!